
Class _E— St? 
Book . 1 /6 C 4 



COPVRICKT DEPOSIT 



W97 



-A^M, 



JKnd 

A HE 




4-^ en QuideF.4 



Q!nswiEE,mim ^mib miPTSd^Es^M, 



9 



102 South Washington Street. ^~^T~^ 

VICT^SBXJRa, IVIISS. 

- - WHOLESALE ■ - 

-^Gomn^ission Dealers in Western ProduGe,-^-- 

^^firocers and SoUon Factors. 



APPLES. ONIONS, POTATOES, 

BUTTER AND CHEESE. 
FEED STUFFS, GRAIN. ETC. 



^ (garden I^estauFaiil,-^^ 

-;p-' •Corner Clay and Washington Streets. 

FIRST CLASS IN ALL RESPECTS. ^ ^ 

ESTABLISHED OVER 20 YEARS. 

-«« ^- DAVID H. HERMAN. Proprietor. 

Samuel "SroHti, I ^ ^ ^ ^\ V 1 T T^TT O T ^ 1 .^ T il TT^ Chas, E. 'Seer. 



BROWN & BEER, 

Wholesale and Retail 

GROCERS AM) COMMISSION MERCHANTS, 



tS^Liberal Advances Made on Consignments of Cotton "^ 

^Iga iTorttL T7;7"a.slj.in.grtcrL Street, 

P. O. Box 246. -:- Telephone 83. 



Vicksburg, - Miss. 



=|i AND ALL KINDS OF MUSICAL MERiJHANDISE. == 



DEALER 
: IN : 



All Kinds of Repairing Neatly Done and Guaranteed. —. aw - 

-«<« ^-209 OPENWOOD STREET. "VlcksbUrg, MlSS. 




Z; 

a 
< 

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w 



X 



Jirtiutsquf Wtrksbiug. 



♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 



^ description of the Resources and prospects oj tfiat City 
and the famous "^azoo ^efta, 



tf) pificultural and ^^ommerrial '- ntercfifb' 



♦ 1 4- • *-f4- 



n- 



23f 



i 



'(bo 'WfiicH is ^ttached a Series of ^l^etcfies of 
Representative Industries. 

PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED. 



/ 



l^ 



BY H. P. CHAPMAN AND J. F. BATTAILE. 



/ 



VICKSBUUG. MISS. : 

ViCKsBURG PkINTING AND PUBLISHING Co. 

'S9S. 

^ 5, r' / 



^>''' 



PREFACE. 



Between the Mississippi River on the West, and the Yazoo River on the East, lies the 
famous Yazoo Delta, probably the most amazingly prolific body of land on the American 
Continent. Its confines include more than oue-lourteenth of the State of Mississippi, stretch- 
ing from Yicksburg to the borderland of Tennessee, and containing an area of over 7.000 
square miles. In this region— a small empire in itself— is contained all the diversified 
elements which upon development are the factors of a prosperous community. Although 
since the recent improvement and perfection of the levee system, progress has been mar- 
velously rapid, there are still hundreds of leagues of territory lying silent and tenantless, 
only awaiting the advent of the settler to be transferred into thriving and self-supporting 
homesteads. The wealth of commerce, agriculture, lumbering and fishing latently exists 
in untold measure. The virgin soil, the primeval forest, and tho teeming lakes and rivers 
all possess undeveloped riches. Man alone in Mississippi is apparently the missing quan- 
tity, and his energy, industry and capital are the required elements in developing, what 
is the natural garden of the South, into one of tlie most flourishing and striking sections 
of the Union. 

To five briefly and succinctly a sketch of Yicksburg and this New Wonderland— not 
aspiring to the pretensions of a history— is the object of this work, presenting besides a 
general review of its great advantages as a field for immigration, the latest authentic stat- 
istics of its present condition, and much new information of interest to both the resident, 
the tourist, and the settler. 

To the many friends who have furnished pictures and valuable data tlie writers 
beg to return their heartiest thanks. 






CO NTEN TS. 

PART I. 

CHAPTER i.— Facts About Vicksbukc. 

Pages. 

Location and Early History of Vicksburg 10- 13 

Commercial Resources and Advantages 1?>- 16 

Transportation, Jlanufactures and Industries IH- 23 

Warren County — Agricultural Productions-Labor 24- 2.S 

CHAPTER //.—The Yazoo Canal. 

Origin — Work Involved — Advantages that will accrue to tlie City I'mm its comple- 
tion 2!t- 35 

CHAPTER III.— The Cotton Industry. 

Cotton Seed 40- 42 

Vicksburg as a Site for a Cotton Mill 42- 44 

CHAPTER IV.— The Yazoo Delta. 

Soil and Climate \. 4(3 

Timber and Forests /. 46- 48 

Value and Uses of the Timber 48- bO 

New Industries 50- 52 

CHAPTER V. — Productions of the Delta. 

Corn and Other Creps 56- 57 

Fruit and Vegetables 57- 61 

Stock Breeding 61-62 

CHAPTER F/— More About the Delta. 

Cost of Living 64- 65 

Transportation for Immigrants 65- 66 

Some Successful Farmers 66- 70 

CHAPTER VII. — PicTURESQE and Sporting Attractions. 

Attractions for the Tourist 72 

Sporting Attractions 72- 74 

CHAPTER VIII.— Vp and Down the Mississippi. 

Aboard an Anchor Line Boat 77- 79 

Attractions En Route 79- 82 

The MulhoUand Line 83- 84 



PART II. 

VICKSBURG RESUMED. 

The Board of Trade 88 

Public Buildings 90- 93 

Educational Advantages 93- 98 

Walks and Drives 98-101 

Vicksburg as a Battle-field 101-102 

The National Cemetery 102-104 

Vicksliurg's Military Coin p, nies 104 

Fr^trriud S.n'ietii-s .'.nil CIiiIj:., 104-105 

Bull ling and Loan Associalions 108-109 

The Press 113-115 



APPENDIX. 

Social Treatment of New Comers 116 

Industries that would Pay in Vicksburg.. 116-117 

Oil and Lumber Industries 119-125 

The Coal Industry 126-127 

Display and Other Advertisements 128-160 

Directoiy of Representative Business Firms 160-166 

Index to Illustrations. 



.r^^^ 




CHAPTER I. 



GLORY of time — a lialo of liistorv, like tl)r liallowing efi'ects that 
endears to nieniory ancient splendor, hovers over Vieksburi,', and 
throws its rliarin surcliarire<l with the spirit of sentiment and 
poetr}', impercejitilily around the writer, who essays even in a 
feeble -way to clironicle its past, or to ])ro])hesy its future greatness. A subtle power that 
springs from some mystic source, we know not where or how, carries the mind back to 
scenes, where the rich redundance of old time Soutliern magniticence have been glorified 
by genius. It is the South- the very words act like an incantation upon the imagina- 
tion. It means at once a clime of bounty and beautv', the land of soft and fragrant airs, 
perpetual flowers and unfailing song-birtis. It is the Mecca of the cultured voluptuary, 
and the asylum of the invalid. No experiences of age dispel the charm of her bright 
I'oinance. The very soil around us is liallowed with the best and bravest of our country- 
men. 

Let us look back a little. With what strides the South has advanced to the position 
she now occuines. It is within three generations or a trifle more, that this was a land of 
which little was known, cut olf from the whirl and bustle of the busy world, a commu- 
nity of savages by itself. Venturesome travelers of repute — DeSoto — the Chevalier 
De Tonti — La Salle — in search of new fields of adventure, visited this country and carried 
back to the old world, what seemed increilible tales of a wonderful land, whose fertile soil 
was unequaled, whose climate was invigorating, whose possibilities were illimitalde, and 
whose destiny was to be the happy home of a thriving and contented people. But still the 
world was skeptical and the magnificent land lay fallow and umjccupied, excepting by its 
aboriginal owners, till a century or more later, through the impulsive restlessness "that 
pervades the liuman race, its hidden wealth and wonderful resources were again brought 
to light and this time more generally made known. To-day, although, its settlement by 
whites may be said to have only commenced, and its resources are yet in an incijiien't 
state of development, there is no attempt made to deny, that there is no other country 
under the sun which can offer the great inducements the South can, to the over-crowdeti 
population of the East in quest of new hmnes, and health, and happy contentment. Here 
are thousands of acres of land for the landless — here are free homes for the homeless ; 
here is a land great in extent, wonderful in climate, grand in its exuberant fertility, and 
sublime in its natural lieauty. It is the land fur the husbandman, for the merchant and 
manufacturer; for the hunter, for the hunberman, for the tourist— lacking nothing but 
capital, and industrious tillers of the soil to aid in working out its manifest destiny. 

It was said of the Northern nobles who were sent to conquer Ireland, that they 
became so enchanted with the beauty of the green isle, the loveliness of the women, and 



10 



PICTURESQUE VICKSRURG. 




Looking North From Court House. 



bravery of the!men, that they become more Irish than^the Irisli themselves, 
it will be witliiall who enter our Southern domain. 



So we think 



LOCA TION AND EARL Y HISTOR Y OF VICKSB URG. 

K you come directly from the vast monotony of the great plains of the Northwest 
with their parched and arid appearance, and stand suddenly upon the massive bluffs that 
form the solid ramparts of the historical city of Victisburg, you would gaze witli a feeling 
of wonder and delight upon a scene, tliat if it cannot be couched in words, holds yet 
witliin it a charm tliat is a spell to the eye, and thrills the sense through every pleasure- 
giving fibre of the frame. Here from pinnacled cliffs, once pierced by the frowning engines 
of war, are seen the long and winding reaches of the lordly Mississippi, bearing l>y gently 
wooded islands and willow fringed shores, graceful steamers freighted with tlie commerce 
of a hundred industries. Almost it seems within a stone's throw, just lieyond where a 
ridge of timber meets the horizon, lies the most southerly border of the Delta of the 
Yazoo — a region so unique in its character, so varied in its features, that it will be in the 
days unborn told of in song and story — a happy valley beyond that of Kasselas, for its por- 
tals will ever be open and the tide of life, in no stinted stream, Hows througli and enrich 
its border. 

The earliest settlement in the vicinity of the present city of Vickliurg was made by 
the French, who had a military post, known as Fort Yasous, in the latter jiart of tlie sev- 
enteenth century. The garrison, a mere liandful of men, ])erislied in the insurrection of 
the Natchez Indians and their allies. One of the early Jesuit fathers, then voyaging 
down the river, landed here the day of the massacre, and was tired on by the Indians and 
seriously wounded. 

Later on, the Spaniards built a fort just north of the present city limits, and com- 
manding the river. This covered a large area but was of no great strength. It gave t!ie 
locality the soubriquet of " Gibraltar," since ajiplied to it with terrible reason, but then 
used in derision. Though tradition is silent on this subject, it is believed that a small 
population remained here after Spain withdrew her garrison and the country came under 
American dominition. 

As " AValuut Hills," a translation of the Spanish " Nogales," it gained some pop- 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



11 



ulation and became by degrees a rendezvous for the flatboats which in that early period 
brought grain and other products from the settlements on the Ohio river, but the county 
Court House was established at Warrenton, eight miles lower down tlie river, and it was 
not until 1S2(), that the beginning of the present city was laid out and a charter obtained. 
The founder, Kev. Newitt Vick, gave his name to the city that was to be. It was not sur- 
veyed into lots until after his death. There were already manifestations of rapid develop- 
ment, a considerable trade having sprung up with the interior. It is difficult to realize 
now in the age of railroads, that there could ever have l)een a day when cotton was hauled 
two hundred miles and more to Vicksburg, the wagons returning loaded with supjjlies of 
all kinds, but this was a common enough jiractice at the time. 

After Vicksburg became the seat of the county government its development was 
rapid. Its merchants acliieved wealth at an easy rate, its lawyers shone, a galaxy of talent 
and learning, at a period when the bar of Mississippi was famous througliout the South, 
and the names of Prentiss, tiuion, the Yergers, Brooke and Marshall are engraved in inef- 
faceable lines in the history of the State. The town was a social centre for the planting 
aristocracy, and its sometimes stormy history was filled, nevertheless, with bright pages. 
Here the jiublic scliool system gained its first foothold in the State, and none of the arts 
of peace were neglected, though the spirit of the jieople was essentially warlike, as 
became the descendants of pioneers who were, in many instances pioneers themselves. 
Numerous steamers plied the Mississippi and the Yazoo, bringing rich tribute to their 
home port. Annually an increasing area of the rich alluvial lands in Louisiana and the 
Y'azoo-Mississippi delta was brought into cultivation, and development never proceeded 
with more rapid strides in any portion of the South than in this favored region up to the 
breaking out of the war. The call for volunteers to fight the battles of the Southern Con- 
federacy was answered nowhere with greater alacrity than in Vicksburg, wdiere the 
response almost literally robbed the cradle and the grave. Her soldiers won imperishable 
glory on many a bloody field and when the conflict ceased returned, with numbers thin- 
ned by warfare, to a ruined city, themselves ruined also. 




Looki.no Soutu From Court House. 



12 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



The present city uf Vioksburg shows how faithfully and with what a ?iiirit of deter- 
mination they strove to etface the signs of warfare and to re])air the injuries it had ooea- 
sioned. The horrors of a long siege and a longer t)oniliarilni<>nt had done tljeir worst here, 
and few towns that escaped utter destruetion, suffered more severely than the Giliraltarof 
the Confederacy. 

Another severe trial was yet in store for VicUsburg — the yellow fever epidemic of 
1S78. The love and charity of the nation was then poured upon its suliering people and 
men gave up their lives for their fellows as clieerfully as lives were ever oU'ered for one's 
country. The ^rave of Lieut. Benner one of thi'se lieroes, in the VicUsliurg National 
Cemetery, wliere it is annually decorated witli flowers, the tribute of a grateful people, is 
a tie that especially unites the people of the once opposing sections. 

Under the ellicient rjuaraiitine system yellow fever has not invaded the cities of the 
lower ^Mississijipi valley in many years, and no further a|iprcliensinn of its iuroails is en- 
tertained. 

The present city of Vicksbiirg bears scarcely more resendjiance to the city of bsdl, 
tlian did tlie latter t<j the jirimitive Walnut Hills. The old town extended southward a 
little further than what is now about its centre, the intersection of South and ("hei'ry 
streets. The new covers an area of about two square miles, the city havinj; grown to the 
south ami eastward. The original limits were far larger, including many of the villages 
which now form the city's suburlis, but were contracted some twenty years ago, for i>olili- 
cal purposes it is stated. Of late years there has been a strong tendency to reverse this 
process and its accomplishment is only a ijuestion of time, so rapidly are the suburbs 
lieing built np. At jiresent, from the city's northern limits to a point full three ujiles 
soutli, following the line of the blufls and extending a mile iidand, the buildings are 
closely set. There are few finer views than the one presented by VicUsl.urg from the 
river, whether seen by day, when its many fine buihlings, crowinugthe lofty heights, are 
shown to esjiecial advantage, or by night, when illuminated by innumerable lights it seems 
to ri.se out of the water at its feet. 

It has many imposing structures, among which may be mentioned tlie county Court 
House, ante-dating the war and occui)yiug a remarUal)ly fiiu' location ; the ('u>tom House. 








VitKsnrRo IX 'b9. 

erected a few years since at a cost of S100,000; St. Paul's Catholic Cluirch. which idso saw 
the perils of the siege; Christ Church, which has been described as a typical Knglish 
church, with its ivy-mantled tower; Holy Trinity, a beautiful example of sacreil architrc- 
ture, with a spire L'lO feet in height, notable also for its memorial windows in liouDr of the 
deail of both aruiies who perished in the siege; and the .Jewish Synago<;ue. lately remnd- 
eled and improved at considerable outlay. The two leading hotels, the Carroll and the 
Piazza, are also fine buildings. Many iiandsome residences are also to be seen in all parts 
of the city, whose picturesque grounds and exteriors prove that good taste is as pre-emi- 
nent as ever in the Hill City. These same hills, whose outlines are so closely followed 
by the city, have been for two generations the despair of engineers, but the glory of lovers 
of the picturesque. The possibilities for ornamentation aftbrded by terraces have been 
improved to the utmost and the rich green turf of Bermuda grass, as seen in many lawns, 
is unrivaled in its beauty and eflect, especially when sapjdemented by tropical jilants, 
as bananas, palms and caladiums, very generally grown, even by the hund)lest inhabit- 
ants. A humid atmosphere and nine months' exemption from frosts suthce to clothe the 
most uni>romising localities in living green, |)recipitous bluffs are hung with honey-suckles 
and luxuriance is the rule everywhere. The land of cotton is quite as emphatically the 
land of flowers, and nowhere are these seen in greater perfection than here. Roses in the 
open air at Christmas are no novelty and though they are more numerous in the spring and 
autumn than at other seasons they are iilentiful at all times except in tlie dead of winter. 

No one has ever accused the Simthern people of a lack of admiration for the beauti- 
ful, but there has been a wide-si)read belief that they are addicted to sli|i-shod, easy-going 
methods, and that their belongings are ai)t to be rather comfortable than neat or entirely 
convenient. There are few traces of this vice or weakness in the city of Vickslnirg, and 
especially will it l)e found that all the p.ublic institutions are up to the times. 

The streets are fairly well jiaved with gravel and a vast mileage of sidewalks, gener- 
ally of brick, cover nearly all parts of the city. 



PICTURESQUE VICK8BURG. 



!■ iH'pai'tMK'Ut 
liusfil upon a 




a paid ik'iiartiiiout, i.s so c-lilcieiit that a total loss rarely 

iipfral)iinilaiit water siipplv, delivered throuf^li mains wliieii 

■ the ■ " ■ ■ "' ' 



reaeh the most isolated localities, under exreptionally 
heavy pressure, so heavy that except on the liit;lier levels 
the two steam tire entwines held in reserve are never called 
out. Ten additional tire-plu<rs are to be jnit in to atl'ord 
further protection and the city now has under construc- 
tion, at considerable expense, a fire alarm telegraph sys- 
tem, of tlie most approved type. Eighty-one arc lights 
illuminate the streets, which are patrolled by a police 
force of twenty men ; hundreds of Ijrick crossings have 
been laid witliin the past few years and all the improve- 
ments undertalien have lieen of the most substantial 
character.* A serious drawback to the city has been its 
ack of transportation, partly supplied by numerous vehi- 
,,^ . cles wdiich are to be had at low rates, but an enterpris- 
/^]~~^^^~J ing corporation now holds the franchise of an electric 
p^ss^sJ railroad system and negotiations now pending contain 
/ tlie assurance that at an early day this deficiency will be 
W^^-V splendidly met and supplied. 

The municipal buildings are distinctly inferior, be- 
ing old and small, but other improvements have been 
considered more essential to the welfare of the commu- 
nity and the proposed City Hall has been postponed to a 
more convenient season. 

In healthfulness, Vicksburg will compare favorably, 
it is believed, with any town of its population in the 
United States, since all available statistics justify the 
statement that the death rate of white inhabitants does 
not exceed 17 per thousand. This is due to the city's ele- 
vated situation and perfect drainage, and a/so to the ab- 
sorbent nature of the soil, it appears. Consumption is 
rare, typhoid fever almost unknown — some ph.vsicians in 
large practice, covering a perioil of many years, say they 
lave never seen a case — scarlet fever of rare occurrance 
and almost invariably of mild type — it is a fact that an 
epidemic of several hundred cases was fatal in only a- 
another scourge of northern climates, is also an exotic 
a foothold here or figured except to the most limited 
The diseases of this latitude are (diiefiy of a malarial 
in ty|ie, yielding readily to prompt treatment. The longevity of the 
feature worthy of renutrk and the same may be said of their mental 
and pliysical vigor, even into extreme old age. 

COMMERCIAL RESOURCES AND ADVAXTAGES. 
Founders of cities have not always displayed good judgment in their selection of 
of sites, but in the case of Vicksburg jircscience could have done no more. The junction 
of the Mississippi and the Yazoo, the latter alone with its tributaries comiirising SOU miles 
of navigalile water, the first high land on the east bank of the Mississippi for over 400 
miles, was meant by nature for a commercial centre. When to these advantages are added 
those afforded by the fertile territory surrounding the city, in easy reacli by rail and 
river, destined for the home of a teeming population and probably able to sustain a greater 
number of inhabitants to the sijuare mile than 
any of tlie most thickly peoi)led jiortions of 
Europe, it will be seen that Vicksburg lacks 
none of the attributes of potential gi'i'atness. 
Memphis is more than 400 miles distant by river 
and -20 by rail. New Orleans is about equally 
distant to the soutliward, while Slireveport on 
the west and Meridian on the east are too far 
away to he considered rivals. The natural de- 
velopment of the surrounding country whi(h 
finds the city its most convenient business jioint 
will inevitably nuike it a great city, even if its 
inhabitants were content to sit with folded _^^ 
hands and await such slow processes. Kiver 3^^ 
competing with railroad routes reduce trans- 
portation to the minimum of cost and make the 
citj' one of the best markets in the entire coun- 

* See City Government, Part II, for detuiis of municipal reform. 



single instance — and diphtheria 
disease anil has never ac(juirei 
extent, in the mortuary rejjorts 
nature and mild 
inhabitants is a 




14 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



try. The traJe in Western produce, as a natural consequence of low freights, covers a 
remarliably extensive territory, Vickslmrg being tlie most important centre for its distri- 
bution in tlie State and supplying an increasing demand, not only in Mississippi but in 
Louisiana, Alabama and even Georgia. The leading liouses in tliis branch of commerce 
have warehouses fronting on both railroads and on the Yazoo river canal, so that the cost 
of reshipping is reduced to a trifle. 

The extent of the city's commerce is l)est attested by its banking and commercial 
institutions. If tlie banks of a city are strong then the community prospers, and the 
great arteries of commerce are tilled with the throlibing life blood of active busi- 
ness, but woe betide the community whose banks are weak and unwisely managed — spec- 
ulation is there rife, and sooner or later disaster surely comes. 

The banks of the Cit)' of Vicksburg are the bulkheads of its ship of prosperity. 
They are officered and managed by men of capacity, integrity and wisdom, and with a com- 
bined capital and surplus of five hundred and eigiity thousand dollars and deposits aggre- 
gating one million, one hundred thousand dollars, they ever stand ready to advance the 
best interests of the city. 

When the shock of the panic of 1893 (the rumblings of whose thunder had been 
heard in the distant communities for some time before its first tremor was felt in Vicks- 
burg), struck the city, tlie lianks were found equal to the emergency, and turning a com- 
mon and united front to a common foe, they were unassailable, and so great was the 
confidence they had inspired in the public mind, they were unassailed. 

Tlie condensed statement of the combined banks of the city at the last call of the 
Comptroller of the Currency and the Auditor of State, is herewith appended and needs no 
further commendation. 

Resources. 





Loans 


Bonds 


Real 
Estate 


Expense 


Cash and 
Exchange 


Total. 


Vicksburo' Bank 


SI 67,531 30 
214,290 52 
215,866 88 
173,402 27 
147,845 80 


$ 57,000 00 

43,456 25 

88,493 61 

9,076 24 

14,473 16 


$ 30,991 59 

4,000 00 

17,921 88 

46,361 39 

6,328 32 


$1,2.55 2i:*l63.5-^f! fiS 


$420,304 78 
315 276 78 


First National Bank 




53,530 01 

201,673 19 

74,704 86 

17,934 11 






523,9.55 .56 


DeltaTrust & Banking Co. 
Peoples Savings Bank 


290 27 
1,479 35 


303,835.33 
188,060 74 


Total 


$918,936 67 


$212,499 76 


$105,603 08 


$3,024 83 


$508,368 85 


1751,433 19 



Liabilities. 



Vicksburg Bank... 

First National Bank.. 
Merchants Nat'n'l Bank 
Delta Trust it B'king Co. 
Peoples Savings Bank 



Total. 



Capital 
Stock 



$ 75,000 00 
100,000 00 

1(10,000 00 

100,000 00 
50,000 00 



$.. 



$425,000 00 



Surplus. 



20.000 00 

100.000 00 

25,000 00 

10,000 00 



$ 2,173 96$ 343,130 82$ $420,304 78 



Undi- 
vided 
Profits. 



Deposits 



Circula- 
tion. 



Total. 



4,038 25 1.57,838 53l 33,400 00 



6,891 40 

19,517 75 

7,606 19 



$155,000 00 



$40,227 55 



294,.i64 16 22,.500 00 

1.59.317 .5S' 

120,454 .551 



315,276 78 
523,955 56 
303,835 33 
188,060 74 



$1075,305 54 $.55,900 001751,433 19 



With such a showing, of which our people are justly proud, it will be seen that 
ample capital is at hand to supply the needs of a growing community. 

Scarcely less important than the banks and perhaps more so in some respects, since 
they have been the means of promoting thrift and of enabling the place to be a city of 
home-owners, are the Building and Loan Associations. Of these the Vickslmrg Building 
Association, the oldest in the State, is the most important. Its semi-annual report for the 
six months ending .Tune 30, 1895, shows resources amounting to $391,443.28, with loans of 
$340,000.00. The thirty-fifth series opened July 1st, 1895. It has matured and paid in full 
fifteen series. Tlie sixteenth series matured August 1st, 1895, and payments are being 
made on same. It has paid over $1,000,000 on matured and cancelled stock since the organ- 
ization of Association, and has built in Vickslmrg not less than 1,000 homes, including 
the Piazza Hotel and the finest club house in the city. 

The Citizens' Building and Loan Association, an institution for the benefit of both 
white and colored borrowers, has loans outstanding of $90,000, with 1,2.50 shares in opera- 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



15 



tion. It liesan its nineteenth series last April and has had a prosperous career since its 
organization, in ISSH. 

The Mutual Building Association is another thriving concern, newlj' organized with 
local backing, and in the field to stay. 

The Mississipi^i Home Insurance Company, founded in 1883, has a capital of $100,000. 
Its business career has been one of the greatest prosperity. 

The Vicksburg Cotton Exchange, an old and powerful organization, occupies a hand- 
some building on Crawford street. It receives all the cotton market reports during the 
season, or from September 1st to June 1st. Its handsome quarters are the property of the 
Exchange, having been purchased and adapted to its uses a number of years ago. 

The Board of Trade, re-organized in 18iU, has for its president the venerable Mr. 
Louis HofI'man, one of the oldest merchants in the city, whose energy finds a congenial 
occupation in directing tlie operations of this active young organization. The member- 
ship, which is large, is also influential, comprising the leading business men, and from its 




V. 



The Court House, Lookini; West. 



foundation the board has proven a powerful agency for promoting the city's welfare. The 
board holds semi-monthly meetings, in the rooms of the Vicksburg Building Association. 

The German-American Immigration Association is the youngest of the organizations 
having in charge the general welfare of the community. As its name denotes, it is devoted 
to the encouragement of immigration, ]iarticularly of German citizens, from the North- 
west. It has a membership of about one hundred persons, business and professional men. 
Its officers are : President, B. W. Griliith, who is also President of the First National 
Bank ; Vice-President, Capt. E. C. Carroll, also prominent in local banking circles and 
President of the Vicksburg Hotel Company ; Treasurer, R. L. Crook, the head of one of the 
largest produce houses in the city. Tlie directors are also of prominence in the city's 
commerce. 

The annual amount of Vicksburg's trade may be best estimated by isolated items, in 
the absence of exact statistics in several important branches. Its cotton receipts, mean- 



IG 



PICTFRESQUE VICKSBURG. 






%1 



ing cotton actually compressed here, average 70,000 balc;^. It liandles 11)0.000 tons of coal 
annually, exclusive of tlie quantity consunied by the railroads-, of which a large proportion 
is used by local factories of various kind.s. The exchange bought and sold by its banks 
foots up a total of nearly S4(l,(IOO.0OO. The annual sales of grain, meats and western i>ro- 
duce have been estimated at 10,000,000 pounds of salt meats and bacon, 4,000,000 bushels of 
corn and oats, and 200,000 barrels of cornmeal and 100,000 barrels of flour. These totals 
have not diminished in any marked degree, despite the latterly immense production of 
corn and meat in this territory, which would sufficiently indicate, if the fact was not 
otherwise known, tiiat the city's trade with inland towns is increasing at a handsome rate. 
Three large wholesale hardware houses comi)ete for the trade of this section, and on 
equal terms, with the largest firms in St. Louis, New Orleans and other commercial cen- 
tres, and all report a growing trade, a fact attested by increased receipts and shipments. 

The Standanl Oil Company has its principal depot here, supplying a large territory ; 
and the Armour Packing Cfunpany is sim- 
ilarly provided for and distributes immense 
quantities of its products from this base of 
operations. 

Among the facilities for transacting a 
large business, lines of intelligence are 
worthy of special mention. Vicksburg 
has communication with the outside 
world through the Western Union and 
the Postal Telegraph lines, while still 
more important, from a local point of 
view-, are the lines of the Great .Southern 
TelephoneCompany, centering here, which 
connect it with all ])oints along the Jlis- 
sissippi River as far as Gunnison, in the 
Delta ; and with points eastward or inland 
as far as Brandon. The lines radiating 
from Vicksburg comprise more than 'iOO 
miles of wire. Tlie Vicksburg lines alone 
have 300 subscribers and employ five oper- 
ators and two linemen. 

Two hotels with all the modern com- 
forts now supply what was prior to their 
erection one of the city's most crying deli- 
ciencies. " The best hotels in the State," 
is now the verdict of the traveling public 
on these elegant caravansaries and visit- 
ors who come once never fail to come 
again. The Carroll, the largest of these 
hotels, is one of the handsomest buildings 
in the South. A complete description of 
the hotel and its attractions for the 
traveler will be found on another page. 
The Hotel Piazza is also a fine building 
and well kept. It contains 108 rooms and 
cost 8100,000. In addition to these there 
is the Trowbridge House and the Wash- 
ington Hotel, probably the two oldest hos 

telries in the city, both ante-dating the siege by many years. Up fill '70 the latter was 
presided over liy the one-time celebrated General Mcilackin. nf whom it was .«aid there 
was no finer host in the country. Vicksburg is also well supjiliecl with boarding houses — 
boarding houses only in name, for at their table is to be found all the comforts and little 
luxuries of home life. 













'&■:: 



tms^ 



The Bodley Moni'.mext. 



TRAN.SPORTA TIOX. 



Vicksburg's facilities for handling freight could scarcely he excelled in any particu- 
lar. The Alabama & Vicksburg and the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Kailroails cross each 
other within the city Hunts, the former giving access to points in Nortii Louisiana and 
westward, and to the interior towns of ^Mississippi and Alabama; the latter allbrding 
trans]iortation to the numerous towns and plantations of the delta liy its multiplied 
branches and to the southward by its main line and its Xatchez i'(: Jackson division. 
Ample switches reach every large warehou.se, the cotton presses, etc., and in resjiect to the 
laiiidity and convenience of liaudling freight leaves nothing to be desired. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 17 

Vicksliurjr, however, is eiiipluitienlly a river town and though liver lines now linJ 
powerful rivals iu the railroads it still l)oasts the largest fleet of river craft south of St. 
Louis. These ply the Mississippi, the Yazoo and its tributaries in every direction and 
bring rich tribute to the city, besides supporting a numerous class of employes. 

The fulluwiug is a list of the boats operating in and out of Vicksburg : 



AXCIIOR LINE. 

Tonnage. 

Steam EK Crrv of Cairo l.."ilKl 

City ok Mo.vuoe \,hO() 

City oi- St. Lous li.OOO 

City ok New Okle.vx.s 2,000 

City or Hkk.max 1,700 

City of .Arkansas I,."i00 

Bei.i.f Mem ems 1 ,:!00 -10,000 



F. LINE. ( YAZOO & TALLAIIA T< 'HIE TJiAXSPORTA TIOX ( 'o.l/y.l.V V.) 

Steamer Blanks Corn well ">00 

HiRiiiE Bailey l--> 

Hiberxia 400 

John F. .Vllen 400 

Fifteen 1^1 10- I,02o 

.Un.noLl.AM) I.IXE. 

Steamer IIitii JiOO 

Annie La hue 2^0— 750 

VIVK.SBVKO A- XATfllEZ PACKET VOMl'AXY. 

Steamer Charles IX Shaw ; 300 

St. Joseph (>00— 000 

NEW ORLEANS, VloKSHVRa .(■ BEXDS PACKETS. 

Steadier T. 1'. Leathers XOO 

Parooud 1,'.'00- 1>,000 

VrXriXXATI ct- XE]\ ORLEAXS PACKET COMPANY. 

Ste.\mer New Soith 1,'JOO 

State of Kansas , 1,200 

John K. Speed 1,400- 3,800 

VICKSBlUn ,1- 7^.1 VIS BEND PACKET. 

Steamer Ckow n Point .'lOO— :i00 



Total Tonnaoe 19,375 



IS 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



The completion of tlio Yazoo River canal will be of immense advantage to the city's 
river commerce, since it will render the entire city front, ou which are situateil nearly all 
the large warehouses, the Planters' Compress and the Anchor Line Elevator, accessible at 
all seasons of the year. At present, however, these are reached by the largest steamers 
when the river is at or above 16 feet on the gauge, which is usually the case when ship- 
ments and receipts are at their maximum point. At such seasons the city's water front 
presents a most animated scene, for the receipts by steamer are immense and steamers are 
almost constantly receiving or discharging cargoes. The Anchor Line boats alone ^handle 
tliree hundred to four hundred tons per boat for this place, chiefly grain and provisions 




Cotton Exchange. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



19 



from the West and manufaetured poods, wliile the local fleet is busy in d'iscliarging cargoes 
of cotton and of cotton seed and in receiving return shipments of all kinds. 

The Anchor Line elevator can store, and frecjuently does, 1,000 tons of freight, and, 
since steamers discharge at its western doors wliile cars are loaded for resliijiinent under 
its eastern eaves, the entire building can be emptied in twelve hours. In time of low- 
water the Vicksburg Wharf it Land Company's wharfboat, then moored at Kleinston, han- 
dles all river freights. At higher stages this boat is moored at the city landing, where 
steamers discharge across her decks. 

The Transfer Company, whose powerful steamer ferries across the Mississippi river 
all trains on the Queen ct Crescent route ( Alabama & Vicksburg and Vicksburg, Shreveport 
& Pacific Railroads) is also an important factor in handling freights. 



MANUFACTURES AND INDUSTRIES. 

Ten years ago the then Louisville, New- Orleans & Texas Railroad, now the Yazoo & 
Mississippi Valley, offered to locate its principal shops in Vicksburg, in consideration of 
$100,000 in city five per cent, bonds and the grant of certain tracts of land. The desired 
bonus was granted by a large poinilar majority an<l the result was tlie erection of the pres- 
ent magnificent plant, which employs more mechanics and laborers than any other single 
establishment in the city, the force varying from 350 to .500 persons, according to the 
requirements of the road's traffic. The shops, which are in the western part of the city, 
cover a large portion of the railroad yard, which extends from Depot street on the north 
to Fairground street on the south, a distance of nearly half a mile, and are with two or 

three unimportant exceptions, 
built of pressed brick. They 
comprise all the buildings, ma- 
chinery, etc., necessary to the re- 
pairing of railroad rolling stock, 
including a fine planing-mill of 
lai'ge capacity. The invested cap- 
ital is about ?o00,000, not incluil- 
ing material. Tl.e monthly pay- 
roll of this force is a very consid- 
erable addition to the city's cash 
receipts and is much increased 
by the large sum paid out here to 
engineers, firemen, etc., this being 
the re-laying point between Mem- 
phis and New Orleans. 

The manufacture of cotton-seed 
into oil, oil cake, etc., probably 
gives employment, directlv and 
indirectly, to a larger nundjer of 
laborers than any other product- 
ive industry, although the three 
large mills now operated liere 
make the fullest use of labor-sav- 
ing machinery. Tlie oldest mill 
here, the Refuge, a very comjilete 
establishment, is situated on the 
river bank, just below the city's 
southern suljurbs, and is con- 
nected with the Yazoo & Missis- 
sippi Valley Railroad by a switch. 
Its shipping facilities are unsur- 
passed and it handles an immense 
quantity of seed at remarkably 
small expense. 

The Hill City, formerly the 
Warren Oil Mill, is situated on 
North Washington street, in the 
heart of the city, and though in- 
conveniently located, is a very 
successful mill. 

The Vicksburg Oil Mill, occupying extensive grounds at the corner of Depot and 
I-evee streets, between the tracks of both railroads and on the bank of the Yazoo river 
canal, is probably the largest mill between New Orleans and ^lemphis, having had its 
capacity doubled during the present season. Its crushing capacity is stated at 200 tons 




P'VUL s CiiiRcn 



20 



PICTURESQUE YICKSBURG. 



daily. Tlie owners, Lever Brothers, limited, of London, England, besides doubling the 
capacity of the jilant, have erected a brick wareliouse, TOx'JOO feet, this season. 

The united crushintr capacity of these mills is aliout oOO tons daily. The crushing 
period extends from ten to eleven months, accordini; to the supply of the raw material. 
The product is chiefly shijiped to Kurope, thouijh a consideraljle projiortion of the oil-cake 
and nearly all the hulls not burned under the boilers is fed to cattle in the vicinity of the 
city. The industry gives emjdoyment to ooO persons and indirectly to many more. 

The two compresses of the Vicksburg Cotton Press Association are worthy of men- 
tion among the city's industries, since they employ a large force, some 150 persons during 
the cotton season. The Vicksburg, on Depot street, and the Planters', on the canal, are 
ea(di large structures of the best type, being built according to the strictest requirements 
of the insurance companies. They are i)rotected against fire by a complete system of fire- 
plugs and hose and their laborers are an organiz-od liand of firemen, on occasion. 

The manufacture of lumber has lieen an important industry in Vicksljurg for many 
years, but (diietly to supjdy the large local demand and that of the plantations adjacent 
until a i)eriod comjiaratively recent, when the increased inquiry for hard-wood lumber 
resulted in decidetlly stimulating the industry. The erection of three large mills, all 
located on Lake Centennial, speedily followed, and large shipments of oak, ash and cotton- 
W'Ood were made to the IS'ortbern markets. The local demand continued to l>e active and 
large quantities of cypress and Cottonwood were cut for home consumption, in addition to 
the output for shipment abroad. Five mills were in operation simultaneously. Tlie gen- 
eral depression in the lundjer trade, while not so severely felt here as elsewhere, materially 
curtailed shipments, but at present tlie industry is in a healthy condition and tlie mills are 
meeting an increasing demand from Northern and Western buyers. The mills in opera- 
tion are owned by the Curphey-Woollen Lumber Company and the Spengler Manufactur- 
ing Company. The Streiglit Comjiany's mill is not in oiieration at present. 

The Spengler Company has recently built a large ]daiiing-mill and sash and blind 




View Fro.m tuk Island. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



21 



factory, wliieli will be put in operation during the present season, it is reported. The firm 
of Curphe)' ct ilundv, manul'aeturers of sasli, doors and blinds, also devote much 
attention to the making of ottice furniture to order and are large building contractors. 
Considerable stocks of Inudier of all kinds, including yellow i)ine, are carried here. The 
Spengler Company has a large uiill at Forest, in tlie heart of the yellow pine belt. 

In the mills and factories here some 1")0 luiuds are employeil. The sujiply of timlier 
which may be floated to tlie mill-side is practically unlimited, including not only white 
and other varieties of oak but sevei'al kinds of ash, besides poplar, hickory, Cottonwood, 
gum and cypress. Walnut is in good supply also. The city draw's the most of its logs from 
Yazoo river and its tril)utaries, but Arkansas and North Louisiana are also readily avail- 
able sources. Bohmer Brothers are cutting large quantities of ash and poplar in the north- 




AnCHOR l.I.NL Lu.VDINCi. 



ern part of Warren County, all for shipment North, but none of this valuable timber is 
being cut in the neighborhood of the city. 

The lumber trade is one of the industries which will derive especial advantages from 
the opening of the Yazoo River canal, w-liich will tend to facilitate the floating of logs from 
the Yazoo and its tributaries to the mills, and will liesides give the mill men the use of a 
large body of water. Old liiver, through which the Yazoo will flow into the canal, to accu- 
mulate rafts of timber in. 

In connection with this industry it is worthy of note that wood-working establish- 
ments are few, while the demand for their finished products in this section is extremely 
large. A brilliant opportunity awaits the practical manufacturer of sjiokes and felloes 
here, while such an opening for the manufacture of cheap furniture is rarely to be found, 
even in the South. Much timber now rejected by the mills would be available in the 
making of such furniture. 

The manufacture of pressed and of ordinary brick engages the attention of three con- 



22 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



siderable firms : John Beck, J. D. Tanner and T. S. Gregory, whose yards are all located 
in the southern suliurbs. Besides supplyinvr, almost entirely, the local demand, tliese 
firms sliip considerable quantities of their output, especially to points along the river. 
Tlie brick is of superior ijuality and finisli, as may be seen in the handsome building of 
tlie B. B. Literary Association. This industry, when in full operation during the manufac- 
turing season, employs some two hundred laborers. 

The building trades in the city are represented liy numerous contractors, of whom 
several are firms of considerable means. Tlie brick manufacturers are among these, as are 
the lumber firms of Curphey & ilundy and the Spengler Company. 

One of the finest plants in the State and the largest of its kind is that of tlie Vioks- 





Bayoi' Bridge. 



burg Ice Company, on Levee street. Its output of fifty tons daily supjdies the city ilemand, 
with a surplus fur steamers plying to and from this port and for shipment to adjacent 
points on the rivers and railroads. Since this establishment was set in iipci'ation natural 
ice has been entirely shut out of this market. Tlie product is of the highest standard of 
purity, being made exclusively from distilled water. 

Light, without which civilized communities could scarcely exist, is sujiplied at roas- 
oualile rates, for both public and private uses, by two considerable plants. The "S'icUsbnrg 
(iasliglit Company, whose works are under lease to the United Gas & Improvement Com- 
pany, of Philadelphia, has a plant representing an investment of Sl-o,000, located on 
North Washington street. Its mains, thirteen miles in extent, cover all the principal 
streets of the city. The works and its lines are kept in thorough order and give em]>Ioy- 
nient to eight men, besides a large force of laborers on the mains. 

The Vicksburg Electric Light Company, whose works are situated on the Alal)ania & 
Vicksburg Railroad, near Cherry street, is a strong corporation, now enjoying a lucrative 
contract for lighting the city, under which it is to supply eighty-one lights for five years. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



23 



It has also a liirge business with private- (.unsuuieis and its 225 lioise-power is fully em- 
ployed. 

Two boiler-making and repair shops, one of which has Iniilt several of the largest 
batteries in the citj' ; several maehine shops and a large tin and sheet-iron works — that of 
J. J. Mulligan — give employment to many hands. 

Tlie manufacture of tine clothing, boots and slioes, all of the class known as custom- 
work, also employs many expert workmen. 

Three firms, W. E. Beck & Co., The Hill City and the Mississippi Hottling Works, 
are engaged in the manufacture of soda and mineral waters and supply tlie city, besides a 
large shipping demand. 

A broom factory, recentl); started by Western men, is selling a considerable output. 
Many lesser industries, employing a few men each, are omitted from this category. 

A match factory, the only one in the South, will be put in operation this season, the 
buildings having been just completed, at South Vicksburg, a station on the Valley route, 
six miles south of this city. Its owners are Chicago capitalists, who have ample means 
and will employ from 100 "to 150 hands. The matches will be manufactnred from cotton- 
wood timber. 

Labor being both abundant and cheap in Vicksburg the city presents an especially 
favorable opening for factories of all kinds. The supply of fuel is also obtainable at very 
low rates, through the competition of the Pittsburg and" the Alabama mines. Good steam 
coal may be had at $2.10 per ton, perhaps lower in round lots. A visit to the city would 
suffice to convince any practical manufacturer that many articles, now supplied the 
Southern market by Northern factories, coulil be produced here at less cost and sold at a 
larger profit than in the Atlantic or central manufacturing states. 




Fkom New School IIousb Looking South. 



24 



PICTURESQUE VfCKSRURrT. 



WARREN COUNTY. 



The County of Warruii, of wliirli N'icksbiirt; is tin' cajiital anil the only iilace of im- 
portance, lies in latitude oL'° ;'.t)^, between the Mississijuii i^ Bis Black rivers anj at tlie 
southern extremity of the Yazoo-JIissi.ssippi Delta, a part of which is compriseil within its 
bounilaries. It inchnles several islands in the ^lississijipi river, of which llie most import- 
ant is Davis' Bend, and isdivideil into two portions by theYazoo river. Its top )<;raphy is of 
the most varied character, iiii-ludin<; lartre areas of tiie ricliest alluvial lands in the Missis- 
sippi, Yazoo and Bi>; lUacU liottoms and a still lari;er territory of uplands, also of <;reat fer- 
tility. The natural timbi'r is almost exclusively hard-wood and is very dense. The high- 
lands attain their greatest alti- 
tude near tlie Yazoo and Missis- 
sippi rivers and slope tow'ards the 
Bii: Black, which is the eastern 
boundary of the county. Barely 
one-eij;h"th of the total area is in 
c u 1 t i V a t i o n or even cleared, 
tlidULdi a very small pro|iortion is 
insusceptilile of cidtivation. Geo- 
loL;ically the srreater part of the 
county belongs to wliat is known 
as the loess formation, the hills 
Vjeiiig composed almost exclu- 
sively of immensely thick de))Os- 
its of this kind of soil, resting 
ujion a soft sandstone or lime- 
stone of marine formation. The 
loess is a line yellow loam, con- 
taining all the elements of fertil- 
ity, so that it may l)e considered 
inexhaustible in ibis resi)ect. 

The county has :!:!,()0I) inhabit- 
ants (census of ISilO), ol whom 
the greater luunber reside in the 
city and suljurbs of N'icksburg, so 
that from the standjioint of an 
agriculturist it is thinly iieojjU'd. 
The tendency of tlie negro popu- 
lation to desert the ujilands for 
the bottoms, the country lor the 
towns, has been conspicuous in 
the past, but at present the i)ro- 
eess is measurably complete. 

As might be expected, since the 
county is the water-shed Ix'tween 
three rivers, the country is well 
watered, aliouniling in streams 
large and small. 

The clinuite is mild and eipia- 

ble, free from extremes of heat 

and cold, and in summer tiie nights are made pleasant by the gulf breeze. The temiiera- 

ture ranges from L't) to IKS degrees Fahrenheit. Reports, taken by the United States 

Weather Bureau, show the following averages for the last twenty-three vi'ars : 

.January, 47.(); February, ."jL'.il ; March, .")S.l ; .\pril, (iti ; May, 72.8 ; .June, 7!).2; .July, 
SI. 11; .\ugust, SO.l ; Septend)er, 7.3 ; October, tid ; November, o.") ; Decendier, .')!. 

In the lust twenty-three years we have had only two montiis without rainfall, the 
records showing the following average total precipitation in inclies : 

Januarv, o..")l ; Februarv, 4.411 ; March, (i.47 ; .\pril. li.Oii ; May, .").():! ; .Tune, 4.29 ; July, 
4.5() ; August,' :3..50 ; September, o.Go ; October, 2.011 November, 4.'J4 ; December, 5.09. 




Ciiiu.ST CniKiii. 



PICTURESQUE YICKSBUHG. 



25 



The following table shows the average mean relative humidity for the last fourteen 
years ; 

January, 74, February, 71 ; Marcli, 6G . April, 68 ; May, 71 ; June, 77 ; August, 77 ; 
September, 75 ; October, 7o ; November, 71 , Deeember, 72. 

This demonstrates there is an absolute freedom from the destructive droughts of the 




lit 



iilMili 



^ . iff . t %'iA'm r^ ' 'L^ 



. T'-iWfi ' ^ 



Northern latitude. Sunstroke is also rare and never fatal, except when complicated by 
intemperate habits. 

The county being bordered or traversed by three navigable streams and pierced by 
two railroads may be said to enjoy the maximum of facilities of transportation. 

3 



26 



PICTUIU<:SQUE VICKSBUUG. 



. 1 G RR T LTV HAL PRODI 'C TIOXS. 

The principal crop of the county, as elsewhere in the cotton belt, is in the fleecy 
staple, but diversified agriculture always had its stronghold in the uplands of the State 
and of late years there has been a steadily increasing tendency towards abandoning the 
" all cotton " practice of the jjast generation and reverting to the wholesome methods of 
the early settlers, who grew everything at home and made their cotton a surplus crop. 
This accounts for the attention now paid to the hay crop, to the cultivation of corn, of 
which the county will unquestionably have a surplus this season; and for the increased 
acreage devoted to dairying — an important industry near tlje city. Truck-iarunng has also 
been pursued with success, though so far only to supply the home demand — necessarily 
very large — and orcharding is also growing in importance. Shipments of fruit and vege- 
tables to Northern markets have not been made, however, except on a small scale, (although 
the railroads extend every facility to growers) because a greater profit may be derived from 
supplying the home market. 

The principal field crops are cotton, corn, field peas, millet, sorghum and Louisiana 
sugar-cane. In this latitude the hay crop is chiefly derived from Bermuda grass, which 
takes the place of blue-grass but grows more luxuriantly and produces several crops in a 
season. It also affords fine pasturage. The area sufficient to feed a steer is very small. A 



A 1,, f tw '=LC--'j^JiT>^tI 




dairyman near the city has 21 head of cows on 18 acres of land and finds the jiasturage 
superabundant. Both red and white clover have become practically indigenous plants, 
growing along the roadsides and in almost every pasture, but neither is cultivated as a 
crop. The soil never grows "clover-sick" and a fair crop appears annually on fields that 
have not been plowed in twenty years. Of late much care has been devoted to horse and 
cattle breeding; the native stock has been improved by judicious crosses and grade Jer- 
seys are to be seen everywhere. 

Besides the crops mentioned rice, wheat, oats and tobacco have been successfully 
grown but never on a large scale. 

The fruits are peaches, apples, pears, apricots, figs, plums — especially the .Japanese 
varieties — grapes — the .\merican hybrids being exceptionally well adapted to the climate — 
and all the small fruits except cherries and currants, which have never been tested. The 
fig is a crop that never fails and which is enormously profitable in the vicinity of canner- 
ies. The customary price for the fresh fruit is from 3 to 5 cents per pound, or from Sl'.40 
to S4.00 per bushel." 

Land may be had at from So.OO to SIO.OO per acre, according to location and improve- 
ments. Well improved plantations are offered as low as S7.00 to $9.00 per acre. 

The county is now making considerable expenditures for the improvement of its 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



27 



roads, employing all its convict force lor that purpose. It has also expended more than 
$40,000 in building iron and steel bridges. Two of these span Big Black and cost about 
$14,000 each, and with tlieir approaches much more. 

LABOR. 

Among all the varied interests of a community, none is of greater importance than 
labor. It is the soul of prosperity, antl the very pulse of development. If labor is plenti- 
ful, and tractable, and can he had at a fair rate of compensation, industries grow and 
flourish, but without such labor, commerce lags behind, and enterprise is nipped in the 
bud. When we figure up the expense of strikes and riots, the cost of enforceil idleness, 
the curse of confidence shaken and ruined, of capital withdrawn and withheld, of pro- 
jects prevented and abandoned — temporarily or permanently — which all figure in the his- 




HoLY Tkinity Church. 



tory of labor in the North, we certainly cannot but be convinced that the employer and 
the capitalist there generally suffer a very serious drawback. 

No such condition of affairs exist in the South, for Soutliern labor differs from 
Northern labor in as many respects as the climate does. It is docile and obedient, where the 
latter is headstrong and ofttimes nnmanagealile. In common with the rest of the Soutli, 
negro labor is almost tiio only kind emjiloyed in ilississippi. It is cheap and plentiful, 
the usual rate of wages for farm hands being from SIO.OO to Sl.5.00 per month. If the em- 
ployer furnishes a house and place for a vegetable garden he can secure all the labor he 
needs for S8.00 orS12.00 per month. While the ordinary negro laborer of the South is not as 
intelligent or energetic as the white laliorer of the North, lie is yet a good workman ; 
works from sunrise to sunset through the whole year and boards himself. He is a part 
and parcel of the climate. The Imrning heat of a summer's sun only awakens in him a 
higher sense of enjoyment. He is easily managed and easily pleased. 

The negro rarely seeks a higher aim in life than a modest living. His earnings are 



28 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



spent with a lavish hand, and however large his wages he rarely makes any provision for 
old age. He lives for the present, happy, thoughtless, contented. His emotional nature 
is extreme and hence he enjoys above all things the excitement of a " big meeting," a 
dance or a horse race. Social by nature, he will spend every moment of leisure with his 
companions. He is not given to seclusion or thoughtfulness. He is moved by impulse 
ratiier than by reason. This social instinct makes him a discontented latiorer when work- 
ing alone, and he will take less wages where he can mingle with a large number of his own 
race. 

He is liberal to a fault. He will often work a whole week and give his earnings to a 
church festival on Saturday niglit, or hire a costly equipage for a drive with his wife or 
children or with his dulcinea on Sundays. His race indulges in no anarchistic or social- 
istic ideas. The negro never questions the right of another to take his place when he has 
been discharged or has voluntarily surrendered it. The idea of a boycott is repugnant to 
his nature. In many respects he is eminently conservative and his greatest weakness is a 
lack of firmness. 

In short the colored laborers of the South have man)' excellent qualities. Though 
lacking usually in frugality, i)rudence and forethought, they are efficient workers, patient 
in endurance, easily controlled and have a capacity for some kinds of farm work tliat is 
distasteful to white laborers and which they do not readily perform. In tlie cultivation, 
management, and harvesting of the great staple of the South — cotton — the colored labor- 
ers are eminently successful when directed by intelligent supervision. 



r^ 




The 



Yazoo 




C/fJ/iL 



CHAPTER II. 



During tlie past fifteen years, the regulation and control of the ilississippi river has 
become an object of concern, and the subject of attention of the Federal Government. 

Prior to this period, this great and erratic river, with its enormous volumes of annual 
flood waters, exercising forces of incalculable magnitude, pursued its own waj-, with the 
unbridled instinct of all alluvial streams, tearing away, in times of high water, many 
acres of its shore in each successive bend, loading its turbid waters with vast quantities of 
mud and sand to be deposited on the next " bar " at the foot of the bend, called by the 
pilots a " crossing." By this process, carried on through many successive centuries, the 
Mississip)>i river has assumed and maintains that pronounced serpentine form of align- 
ment which is characteristic of alluvial streams. 

One of the marked results of these conditions is, the formation of a channel consist- 
ing of a succession of deep pools in the bends, with intermediate " shoal crossings " at the 
reversionary points between succeeding bends, when the current leaves one shore and 
crosses over to the opposite side of the channel. 

Another evil incident to the uncontrolled condition of the Mississippi river, was 



30 



PlCTrRESQUE VICKSBrRG. 



the impairment or threatened destruction of the harbors of the towns situated on its 
banks. 

The liarbor of Vicksburt; was tlius attacked before any lontrol of the river had been 
attempted, and by a " cut oti'" of its peninsula in tlie bend opposite to Yickslmrg, whicli 
occurred in 1875, the channel of the Mississippi river, which liad before then Howed along 
the city front, was withdrawn to a location about one mile south of the town, where its 
harbor, called Kleinston, is now established. 

Immediately it was proposed to provide a new mouth of the Yazoo river, and the 
citizens of Vicksburg in 1877, alive to the necessity of a permanent river front, employed 
Maj. T. G. Dabney, an engineer of much skill and experience, to make the preliminary 
surveys. In 1890, by act of Congress, another survey was taken, which resulted in the 
approval of the project to bring the Yazoo river by way of Old river, through Lake Cen- 
tennial, and down Yicksburg's front, but it was not until the fall of '94 that the work of 
clearing the right of way along the proposed route was commenced. 

The importance of tliis immense undertaking to Yicksburg and the Delta generally, is 
hardly realized. Few know that between the Yazoo and Missisi-ippi rivers, the 4,500,000 
acres they drain and enclose, are capable, if cleared, of producing as much cotton as is 
now raised in all the world, and worth even at present prices as much as the gross revenue 
of the United States. Of this 75 per cent., or o,3.50,000 acres, are made up of forests of 
cypress and hard wood, worth if cut and dressed, at the present price of lumber, more 
than sufficient to pay the debt of the United States. 

An idea of the immense commercial possibilities of this region can be better obtained 

when it is stated that the Yazoo river and 
its tributaries offer unobstructed naviga- 
tion of over 800 miles, except at low- 
water, when its lengtli is reduced to about 
one half. What will it mean to Yicks- 
burg. when this territory shall even in a 
small measure, l>ecome })eopled with in- 
dustrious whites ? 

The Y'azoo river proper enters the 
Mississijjiii from the east, five miles above 
N'icksburg, and fails only in that much to 
carry oft' the rainfall of the whole region 
of the Y'azoo-Mississippi Delta. As shown 
l)y the early maps, the Y'azoo formerly en- 
tered the >Iissi''sippi at the head of the 
bend, wliicli is now a "cut-off" called 
< ihl River. 

" The Navigator," a book giving direc- 
tions for the sailing of the Monongahela, 
Allegheny. Ohio and ^Mississippi rivers, 
tlie first edition of which was published 
in 1801, in its ninth edition published in 
1817, speaks of tiiis " cut-off" and states, 
that " tlie Y'azoo flows into the Jlississippi 
through the lower end." Certain it is, 
that from thi; time the first permanent 
white settlements were made along the 
banks, the present mouth of the Y'azoo 
has been a source of trouble during every 
low water. 

The oldest inhabitants tell of keelboats and barges moored near by, waiting to go in 
when a rise should begin, or when the continued low stages should have lirought about a 
sufficient scouring of the Ijottom. This however, belongs or will shortly belong entirely 
to the past, for with the com|iletion of the canal, the current of the Y'azoo as it nears the 
mouth will be all suflicient to clear away the small amount of sediment which may be 
brought bv the Mississippi. Not that thecurrent out of tlie Yazoo will be stronger than 
now, but the deposit by the Mississipi)i will be almost nothing by reason of the location 
on the channel side. 

Oddly enough, Y'azous, for so Y'azoo was first written, is commonly supposed to be 
the Indian for Styx, or the river of death. Y'et it is not in a sense of death-dealing that the 
river deserves its name. Rather the reverse. Because it is calm and dark and deep ; be- 
cause over the other side " there is a land that is fairer than day," because many cross over 
and few come back. Y'es ! a land of luxuriant forests, surfeited with fruits, w here almost 




U. S. Kxgin'eer's Okkke, Ykksburg. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



31 



every known product of the temperate zone will grow with but little care or cultiva- 
tion." A land where the dweller in a forest cabin can subsist in luxury on fish and fruit, 
and flesh, witli venison or turkey or duck, upon his daih' table. Where the climate is so 
that his house can be constructed with a few days labor in the primitive forest, and 
the fuel for his cuisine and comfort gathered within a furlong of his door. In short, a 
land whose possibilities are infinite and whose productive power is incredible. 

Nor is this idle talk or mere rhetoric, for the logic of confidence in the future of this 
wonderful section of the South, is exemplified in the great undertaking, which is being 
pushed forward with so much energy by the Federal Government, under the skillful man- 
agement of Maj. J. H. Willard. 

Below are given the different routes that have been surveyed, showing the relative 
distance and amount of excavation to be done on each. It will be seen that the route by 
Old river and Lake Centennial, is by far the nearest and most direct, yet the time of con- 
struction will certainly be three years : 



Thompson's Lake 
Chickasaw Bayou. 
Old River 



Length 
Miles. 

8.4 
7.9 
5.9 



Excavation. 
Cubic Yards. 

8,.51],000 

8,223,000 

5,750,000 



The length of the entire route from deep water in the Mississippi river at Kleinston, 
to deep water in Old river at the original mouth of the Yazoo river, is 9.2 miles, constitu- 
ted as follows: 1.9 miles along Vicksburg harbor front, where the cutting will average 25 
feet in depth, and width of the canal at the top about 350 feet ; L5 miles through Lake 
Centennial where no dredging will be necessary ; 8-10 miles through the bar at the head of 
Lake Centennial, where the cutting and width will be a little less than along the harbor 
front; 9-10 miles from the main bank of Lake Centennial to Barnett's Lake, 5-10 miles 
with depth of cut 34 feet and some- 
what greater width than before, say 
about 400 feet; ii-10 miles to the 
main bank of Old river, with the 
sides of the canal rising to 50 feet 
and top width 4.W ; then 1 mile 
through deep water to the Yazoo 
river. 

Briefly, the work involves clear- 
ing away a forest for a distance of 
two miles and heavy willow growth 
another mile ; grubbing and lilast- 
ing out roots and stumps ; digging a 
canal not quite six miles long, with 
average depth 25 feet, top width .300 
feet, bottom being one hundred feet 
wide, and the earth to be removed 
5 3-4 millions cubic yards ; in addi- 
tion to this there is building the 
necessary levees, dams and revet- 
ment to turn the Yazoo river. 

The amount appropriated to 
date, including cost of survey, is 
$345,000, and the amount needed 
to complete the work is S905,000. 
The clearing is completed and the 

grubliing about half completed. Dredging will be commenced about January, 1895, and 
if money is available, will be prosecuted continuously to completion, about July, 1898. 

The benefits of the work will consist in giving a valuable outlet to the Yazoo system 
at all stages ; restoring Vicksburg's river front ; reducing the back water limit of the ilis- 
sissippi river in the Yazoo Delta, and finally in furnishing an ojiportunity for extending 
Yazoo Front Levee system. To the merchants of Vicksburg it will mean, at one bound, a 
large increase in their trade with the Yazoo Delta. What that trade now amounts to, the 
accompanying summary of commerce for four years past will show : 




A View of a Clearing. 



32 



PICTURESQUE ViCKSBURa. 



SuMMAUY OF Commerce. 



Articles. 



Cotton 

Cotton Seed 

Hides and Skins. 

Live Stock 

Lumber 

Staves 

Provisions 

Grain 

Saw Logs 

Miscellaneous .... 



Total Freights 

For Yazoo Proper. 
Total Freiglits 

From Tributaries.. 



Total Freights 

Yazoo and Tributaries. 



Estimated Value.. 



1893'-94. 



Tons. 

15,815 

17,355 

10 

60 

3,200 

14,447 

12.(120 

14.2.S0 

22.400 

12,200 



111,787 
116,.394 

248,181 
88,314,000 



1892-'!)3. 



Tons. 

11,094 

12,795 

2(1 

79 

3,122 
12,488 

8,.")47 

0,107 
11,800 

S,.507 



74,567 
124,887 



199,452 



S4,329,000 



1891-'92. 



1890-'91. 



Tons. 

15,033 

16,570 

19 

124 

3,318 

6,864 

10..502 

12,.531 

15,000 

12,624 



93,205 
116,021 

209,226 



S7,351,500 



Tons. 

13,750 

12,.500 

10 

60 

3,600 

1,350 

9,020 

11,080 
2,140 

10,540 



64,050 
97,588 

161,633 
$6,315,275 



It will be seen that 
there is a large fall- 
ing off for '92-93 over 

the preceding vear. 
This falling off" was 
due to low water at 
the mouth of the Ya- 
zoo, completely shut- 
ting off navigation at 
a period when shiji- 
ments were usually 
heaviest. It is pre- 
cisely this evil tljc 
new canal will rem- 
edy. It will also 111- 
noticeil, that notwitli 
standing this draw 
back to navigation 
the commerce of th' 
Yazoo has increased 
20 per cent, in tlie 
last four years, or 
from S<i.3i5,274, to 
$8,314,000. With im- 
proved and unol)- 
structed navigation it 
is therefore not un- 
reasonable to suppose 
its growth will still 
be more rapid. 

terested in maintaining the navigation of tliese rivers, as a reasonable clieck upon the 
railways tliat are extending in all directions, while on the other hand those interested in 
tlie railways should desire increased facilities of navigation to hasten the development 
and settlement of the country, which is large and rich enough to afford good returns to 
all." These are true words. The rapid growth and settlement of the Yazoo Delta, which 
none will deny,hasliegun. and with it thedevelopment and enlargement of the export trade 
of Vicksburg— a trade made up in largely controlling proportions of its products— has 




.\.\ Aviiu.ii.E Dei.t.v Sti .\U'. 



Capt.J. H.Willard, 
in his report for bS84, 
to the Chief of Engi- 
neers at Washington, 
says : 

" In reviewing rec- 
ommendations for the 
work, it must be re- 
membered that the 
Yazoo Basin com- 
prises a number of 
rivers that drain a 
rich country reclaim- 
ed from overflow by 
the work of the .Mis- 
sissippi River Com- 
mission, the District 
Levee Boards, and 
the Louisville, New 
< )rleans and Texas 
Railway Company, 
and "that rivers, 
affording a navigation 
of over 800 miles, are 
l)locked in low water 
by the bar at the 
mouth. The people 
of the valley, as well 
as the city of Vicks- 
burg, are deeplv in- 




An Anxious Moment. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



forced upon tlie thought of the coniinunity the question of rheap transportation. All 
commercial experiences have ilenionstrated that only where there is an available water 
route can tliis question be so placed, as in its resultant influences to represent and em- 
brace fair profit to the farmer, the manufacturer ami merchant, tlie classes through wliich 
all others become participants in the profits of industry. 

When are rates lowest in the States farthest nortli and east of us ? After navigation 
opens up in the spring, by the competition brought aljout by lakes and canals. But, when 




the ice king lays his liand upon tlie northern waters, then they are at the mercy of those 
who transport by rail, and railroads, all over the world, are but human. They proi)Ose to 
make all they can when they have not full and free competition. It is but natural 
that they should. Riglit here is where the Delta is doubly fortunate over other sections. 
Its waters are navigable, if not all of them, the greater portion of the year, and the farmer 
coming to settle in this valley is sure of the first and great essential to profitable farm- 
ing, viz: cheap transportation to all points, inside or outside the State, for all that he can 
raise. 

The following table shows the effect of competing river routes on railway freigl.t 
rates. They are suggestive of what may be expected whenever the use of waterways 
is abandoned. Tlie rates given are those for freight carried by rail to the points men- 
tioned : 



PiCTrUESQUE VICKSBrRG. 



35 









R 


\TES i.\ Cext.s Vek 100 Liss. 




Fko.m St. Lori.s, Mo., To 


Dis- 
tance. 


Cl.4ss. 


Bagging 
arid 
Ties. 


Packing 

House 

Product. 


Flour 

in 
Sacks. 




Miles. 


1 

90 
114 
llil 

lis 


2 3 4|5 
7.5 '(» 50 40 


6 

35 
40 
47 
47 


A 


B 


C 




540 
400 
427 
407 


20 

38 
43 
43 


30 
40 
4(; 
45 


•>5 


Aberdeen. Miss 

Winona, Miss 


94'73(>2 
07 SO (ill 
97iS0(i5 


s 

54 


:!21 




40 















Continued. 



From St. Louis, Mo., To 



Vicksl)urg, 3Iiss 
Aberdeen, Jliss. 
Winona, Miss... 
Grenada, Miss... 



Dis- 




Beer 




(Tiain. 


in 


tance. 




Wood. 






Miles. 


D 


E 


540 


20 


28 


400 


20 


37 


427 


31 


48 


407 


33 


48 



Liquors 
in 

Wood. 



H 



42 
48 
54 



Flour in 
Barrels 

Per 
Barrel 



Special Iron. 



45 
57 
60 
70 



L. C. L. 



31 
30 
42 



C. L. 

18 
29 
29 
36 



It will be noticed that Vicksburg is 133 miles further than Grenada, and 113 miles 
further than Winona, and 149 miles further than Aberdeen, yet the rate to Vicksburg is 
much less than to either of these points. Why i^^this? Simply liecause there is a water- 
way by way of the Mississippi river to Vicksburg. If Grenada had the advantage of 
water transportation it might have freight rates of about one-third of what they are at 
present. 

In 1885, the river rate from St. Louis to Vicksburg, for Hour, was 60 cents per barrel ; 

at the time of writing the Anchor 
Line boats are carrying it for 30 
cents per barrel, and the rail- 
roads, although their class rate 
as specified above is 45 cents per 
barrel, to meet this competition, 
will make you a rate of 35 cents, 
which will hold good till tlie An- 
chor Line raise their rates, or low 
water causes them to tempora- 
rily suspend service. These are 
facts "that carry volumes witli 
them. As we have already said, 
it is impossible to exaggerate the 
advantages to be derived by 
Vicksburg from the improvement 
of the mouth of the Yazoo. Its 
immediate effect will be to force 
the settlement of some hundreds 
of thousands of acres of land. 
These lands are more fertile 
than those of the valley of the 
Nile, wliich by the richness of its 
soil was the granary of the East, 
and became the seat of ancient 
civilization, and the heart of one of the miglitiest systems of government the world has 
ever known. With the inrush of people into this wonderful valley, where beautiful flow- 
ers never cease to bloom, and inconceivable riches exist, ungathered, in the soil, will come 
the consequent need of manufactures, and the thousand and one accessories necessary to 
human sustenance and happiness. All this trade is Vicksburg's own, and is destined to 
make it the largest city, as well as the commanding point of trade, between St. Louis and 
New Orleans. 




DlilLLINt; FOK A Bl,.\ST. 




TiiK Blast. 




-And Akteu. 




CHA^PTER III. 



We would be derelict in our duty, if before going any further, we did not devote a 
whole chapter to the Cotton Industry — the stronghold of the South, and one of the most 
important factors in the commerce of the world. 

What the grape-vine is to the countries of southern Europe — what the tea plant is 
to China, cotton is to the Southern States. The word cotton has become synonomous with 
sunny skies and starry nights. Of a clime resplendent with fields ever fresh, and groves 
ever green. For cotton is truly a child of the sun, and flourishes best in a clime : 

" . . where every season smiles, 
Far from the winters of the West, 
By every breeze and season blest." 

It was cotton that, thirty-odd years ago, furnished to the South the sinews of war, 
and when the devastating tread of armies had obliterated her plantations, reduced many 
of her beautiful homes to ashes, and left ruin and desolation to mark their course, exuber- 
ent nature, with marvelous rapidity, as if to cover up the scars with a glory nf her own, on 
the spot where a few short months before canons belched forth their deadly missies, raised 
fields of white-fleeced cotton, that did much to reduce the general indebtedness that 
then existed. 

Almost every one knows the history of cotton is coeval with human history, and it 
would be useless to describe when or where it was first cultivated by the ancients. It is suf- 
ficient to say that the real history of cotton in the United States, dates from 1784, when 
a shipment of eight bales was made to Europe. Now, the South plants in round numbers 
20,000,000 acres, the crop for 1894 reaching the enormous total of 10,000,000 bales. 

The production of cotton must, in the very nature of things, ever remain one of the 
leading industries of Mississippi. The agricultural conditions of the State are especially 
favorable for the culture of this staple crop, while all tlie habits and traditions of its labor 
and of its land-holders lead in this direction. Diversification of products is the great cry 



38 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



of the prt'ss, and undoubtedly one of the pressing needs of tlie times, but there are ample 
scope and faeilities for such diversification without trencliing materially u]ion the yield of 
this gi-eat product. 

The demand for cotton goods mu^l a/mij/s continue to keep pace with increasing pop- 
ulation and wealth, and the new purposes to which the fibre is constantly being applied. 
The world must depend for its supply upon this limited area where this staple can be suc- 
cessfully grown, and Mississippi, with its favorable soil and climate, and its rich alluvial 
Yazoo Delta, will always remain an important factor in cotton production. The average 
crop of the Delta is placed at 400,000 bales, of a grade and quality almost unexcelled. 

Ofttimes do we read in the story books of the beauty of the fields of the waiving 
wdieat or vellow tasseled corn, but few sights of this nature surpass the snowy sea which 
lies before" us when we contemplate a field of cotton ready for the picker's hands. Some- 
times the leaves are all shed before the fruit is ripe, and tiiere remains nothing but a vast 
white prairie, which almost l)ewilders tlie unaccustomed eye, as a first sight of the sea does 
one not familiar with it. But sometimes the green leaves remain on the stalks until the 
bolls have fully burst, and we see a beautiful condiination of green and snowy white, 
varied by an occasional brown leaf which has succumbed to the burning rays of the tropi- 
ical sun". The eflfect is, as if some one had made captive the fleecy, white clouds which 
may be seen wafted swiftly across the sky on a summer's night when the moon is full, and 
hung then by handfuls from the dark brown borders of the bolls. Wlien the weather 
permits we see pickers here and there leaning forward and plucking the white fleece, 
which is so ready to leave the boll that it almost droi)S into his liand, and transferring it 
to the long canvas" bag which drags l)eliind him. In most cases the pickers are negroes or 
negresses, and the ebony hue of their complexions contrasts markedly with the white 
expanse before them. The ripe cotton is usually from waist to shoulder high, though it 
sometimes exceeds or falls short of this limit. 

Although the long established method of cotton cultivation is well known, it may 
not be out of place to say that the average date to begin prei)aration of the land in Missis- 
sippi is February 1st, f)efore the rain commences. Planting generally commences aliout 
A|)ril 5th, and isflnisbed by May 10th. 

The method of cultivation is to plow the ground thoroughly ancl as soon as all symj)- 
tonis of frost lias disappeared, the soil is laid ofl'in rows varying in width from :!.! to 7 feet, 
according to the quality of the soil. The seed is then sown along the centre of the beds in 
a straight furrow made" with a small plow or opener. 

For plowinar, the planter requires just snflicient rain to give the soil a moist and 
spongy texture. From the date of plowing to the end of the picking season, warm weather 
is essential. 

Picking cotton gcnernlly commences in August, and frequently continues until the 
approach of sjiring. 

"" ' ' plantation, from the gray-haired old darkey, who has 

lost all track of liis age, to the pickaniny, are 
called into employment during the harvest. 

The cotton is gathered into bags suspended 

from the shoulders of the picker, and when the 

\l,..^ crop has been secured it is spread out and dried 



All tlR 



ailalde hands on th 




When cotton is not ginned on the planta- 
tion, the price is SI. 50 to S2.50 per bale. The 
weight of a bale of cotton is 400 to 600 pounds, 
the average being less than .500 pounds. The 
seed is usually taken for part or full payment for 
the ginning, cost of bagging, etc. As a rule, 
l>lanters sell to a middle-man. calleil a cotton 
factor or commission merchant, who ships tlie 
cotton to the large export markets, or sells to 
their agents, or to the Eastern mills. All cotton 
for export sliipment is compressed in the town 
from which it is shipped, if the town be large 
enough to support a jiress of the kind. Vicks- 
bnrg has two large compresses with a capicity of 
2.50,000 bales per season. Both of these presses 
do a large and increasing volume of business. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 39 

Perhaps it is not generally known tliat Mississippi can make the proud boast of 
having one ot the largest cotton plantations in the world. It is located in the Yazoo Delta, 
and is known in the country as the Dahomey ]>lantation; comprising no less than 36 sec- 
tions of land or 6 miles square. Home of this represents timber land, but that portion 
directly under cultivation produces 8,000 bales of cotton, and 4,000 tons of cotton seed, 
and employs all the way from SOO to 1,200 hands. 

But this is a monster, and even in Mississippi, the home of large and princely plan- 
tations, there are few, devoted exclusively to cotton, that approach it in area. 

The size of the average cotton plantation in Warren county and the Delta, may be 
said to run from 50 to 2.50 acres. Nine tenths of them are farmed by 
colored tenants who rent them all the way from $3 to $6 an acre. 

The average yield of seed cotton per acre in Mississippi, is o70 
pounds, and lint cotton, 190 pounds. In the alluvial land of the Delta, '^St^ 

it is 1,12.5 pounds seed cotton, and 375 pounds lint cotton per acre. 

There is raised contigious to to Vicksburg, Orleans cotton 1 inch 
to 1 1-16 ; Benders, 1 inch to 1 1-S ; 1 1-16 to 1 1-8 ; 1 1-8 to 1 2-16 ; Mod- /(M •■.vY | 

erate extras, 1 3-16 ; Extras 1 1-4 to 1 5-<! : 1 3-8, 1 7-16, and 1 1-2, with a VM tS' 

small percentage of 1 5-8 staple. In fact, in the variety and quality of ffVV/' 

its cotton, it stands almost without a rival in the world. The average ililSj'^'t. 




length of staple grown in the vicinity of the Delta lands, is, 1 1-8 inches, 

and the extremes of long and short staple, 3-8 to 1 3-4 inches. In North 

Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Alabama, the average 

length of staple grown is 3-4 to 7-8 inches, and in Tennessee 3-4 to 1 ^-3 WiX 

inch. 

The length and finest of the staple grown in the Delta is the result 
of generations of watchful care and intelligence, and the extra staple • ''•^^^ni>)"3^.,^&; 
known as "Benders," is a household word in the cotton market of the ,,>'-''' '•<!'/l'-, -a 

world. With the low price of cotton last year the extra staple of the 
Delta fetclied 12 1-12 cents a pound, against 5 cents for the ordinary. 

It is a question much debated among planters whether it pays to raise cotton at low 
prices which have prevailed for several years. A great many contend that it does not pay 
but often these are the very producers most wedded to its culture. 

It therefore happens at eacli planting seasen, there is much discussion about decreas- 
ing the acreage in cotton, which more frequently ends in an increased acreage, than oth- 
wise. If there is really a desire to reduce the production of cotton, it will be best accom- 
plished by the introduction and production of other crops, and the diversification (if indus- 
tries generally throughout the cotton belt. This seems difficult to accomplish at once, 
and there remains the one practical plan for each individual planter to adopt, and that 
is to improve the culture, increase the yield, and by these means lessen the cost of pro- 
duction. 

An eflbrt has been made by the writers to determine approximately at least, the cost 
of production. This is well nigh impossible, as so much depends upon the character of 
the soil, the seasons, the method of cultivation, and etc. Out of a dozen or more of plant- 
ers interviewed, on the subject, all of them planting, on the wage system, not less than 2.50 
to 1,500 acres, the lowest estimate given for a 4.50 pound bale, under exceptionally favored 
circumstances, was 4 7-8 cents per pound, and the highest 7 1-10 cents per pound. I'nder 
the share system the cost would increase fully 1 1-2 cents per pound. One planter who has 
under cultivation 7-50 acres in the Yazoo Delta, submits the following estimate made up 
from the last year's crop expense account. 

Basis, one acre ; yield, 4.50 pounds lint : 

Preparing land for seed S 2 00 

Planting 3 00 

First plowing 1 25 

Second plowing 1 00 

Third plowing 1 00 

First chopping 1 50 

Second chopping 1 50 

■ Laying by 1 50 

Ginning 1 00 

Picking 7 .50 

Hauling 75 

Total S22 50 

Total cost to make l,4t»0 pounds seed cotton, or 450 pounds lint ready for market, 
$22.50, or 5 cents a pound. 



40 PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 

This estimate makes a very good showing for the ricli alluvial bottoms, where a bale 
to the acre can lie easily made without fertilization. 

M. B. Hilliard, in a most interesting work called the " New South," says : 

" In the Mississippi bottom it is a common thing to make more cotton than is 
picked. It has been said that there is land enough in Mississippi, in what is called the 
'■ bottom," to make enough for the present needs of the world. If, therefore, the cotton 
picker will serve the purpose hoped for, it w'ould seem that tlie cheapest lal)or would grav- 
itate there and locate itself in the most productive land. This will greatly enhance the 
price of the lands, rapidly bring them into cultivation, and greatly improve the healthful- 
ness of the country. Vast areas now devoted to cotton raising, will be given over to rais- 
ing stock, grass and cereals. For awhile at least these lands, unable to compete with the 
rich "bottoms" in cotton production, will be even cheaper than now, until they become 
possessed by the numerous immigrants from the Xortli, the West and Europe. These 
immigrants will not raise cotton. They will go into general agriculture, and fruits and 
vegetables, cereals and live stock of all kinds will be raised. One can see that if all the 
cotton be produced on land that will yield a bale or more per acre, and can be picked, that 
cotton will sell at much less and pay better than now. If the pork and corn be raised that 
is consumed in making it, then the business of cotton raising alone may be pursued with 
]irotit." 

This was written before the South had produced a 10,000,000 bale crop, and the bot- 
tom so to speak had dropped out of cotton — but what was true then is true now, and if 
there is a more profitable business in the world than the purchase of cotton lands at from 
S5.00 to $15.00 per acre, that sold before the war for SoO.OO to SloO.OO, we should like to 
know where it is. 

COTTON SEED. 

But another phase of the cotton industry that we have not touched upon is that of 
the manipulation of the cotton seed, mainly for its oil, but also as food for stock and a 
fertilizer. 

It is one of the most wonderful oversights of the South that the cotton seed should 
have remained so long undiscovered, so to speak. In 1880 there were a few small mills 
nuiking cotton seed oil and meal, worth perhaps So,006,000 all told. Now tlie traile uses a 
capital of over $40,000,000 actual cash, and makes a product worth over 870,000,000. The 
material consumed was regarded a nuisance in 1861. To-day it is worth to the planter IJ 
to 2 cents for every pound of cotton he makes. The price rose to 317.00 a ton in 18h2-'93, 
and averaged about 814.50 during 1894. 

It is said to be somewhat noteworthy that throughout the development of this busi- 
ness there was a constant feeling of apprehension on the part of those interested that it 
would be over done, but each year seems to add greater stability to the industry, ancl 
lower prices appear to be offset l>y a steady increasing demand and a wider range of mar- 
kets for the various products of the cotton seed. Tlie refined oil is rai)iilly coming into 
favor for cooking uses, both in its natural condition and compounded with other prepa- 
rations now on the market. The oil itself is a sweet, wholesome and fine vegetable oil, 
and regarded as far preferable by many persons to hogs' grease for kitchen uses. 

It will probably largely supplant lard some day in the South, and jiossihly in other 
parts of the world. People are beginning to understand that they have been largely using 
it while supposing they were using olive oil — the former lieing exported from the United 
States to Italy, and brought back labeled olive oil. So they have learnt its merits and can 
have a chance to be patriotic, at less cost, by its use under its true name. It will make 
anything from luitter to axle grease, and half the vasi-line and ointment you get at your 
druggists contains a large proportion of this wonilerful tiuid. Perhaps the greatest appli- 
cation the oil finds in the arts, is in manufacturing soap. It is now a well known fact that 
a large percentage of the finest toilet soai>s are made wholly or partly from cotton seed oil. 

In the early history of the oil business, prices w'ere 50 to 60 cents per gallon, and 
sales have been made at a maximum of 60 cents per gallon within the past two years, but 
on the other hand, since that time prices have gone as low as 20 cents per gallon. 

As the cotton is picked it takes 300 pounds to make 100 pounds of lint — J lint and j 
seed. The seed is worth about S8.00 a ton at the gin. 

The products of cotton see.l as they are utilizeil now are oil, meal, linters, hulls and 
ashes. After the oil, the meal, of course, is the most imi)ortant factor. This sells forS5.00 
to S20.00 per ton. Xething new can be said concerning this splendid cattle food and fer- 
tilizer, known by all men to be superior to almost every known food for cattle and admit- 
ted with equal frankness to be superior to almost every known soil fertilizer. The farmer 
is learning every day some new way to make it serve his purpose. Mixed with hulls, bran 




Ph 

IZi 

O 
o 



42 PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 

or other dilutants, he brings to life ami fatness the lean and hungry cow. Mixed with 
acid phosphate, home-made compost, or any respectable " tillinji," the cotton seed meal 
asserted its kingly prerogatives by outstripping the best fertilizer in the field. Every state 
chemist in the land gives it high "sounding praise and not a farmer in all the land, or a 
cattle feeder south of Ohio will hesitate to say that at S16.00 per ton cotton seed meal is 
without a peer. The least important of all the products of the cotton seed are linters. To 
the uninitiated we might say, linters is the name given to the cotton taken off the seed 
when re-ginned by the mill.' It is used for cotton batting and shoddy goods and sells for 2 
to 5 cents per pound according to the price of cotton. 

Cotton seed bulls, which were formerly used for fuel, now sell for cattle food at 
$;5.00 to S-3.50 a ton. Even the ashes are worth money, a cent a pound, and are shipped 
away to be used as fertilizers. The best quality of Havana fillers and wrappers are fertil- 
ized with cotton seed ashes. 

To come nearer home, the cotton seed oil industry of Yicksburg, in common 
with other places, has in the last few years grown to be one of great importance, and it 
would be dithcult to locate a more favorably situated point, combining such close proxim- 
ity to the raw material, and such great facilities for export. 

In the Refuge, the Yicksburg, and the Hill City, which are treated in Chapter I., it 
possesses three large oil mills that generally run the whole season through without a shut 
down, handling the bulk of the cotton seed of Warren County, and a large part of the 
product of this" section of the Delta, and shipping their cotton seed oil and meal, by thous- 
ands of tons, to all points of the world. 

These mills crush annuallv some .50,000 tons of seed, and pav out for raw material, 
$62.=),000. The raw material produces 17,000 tons of seed cake, worth STo.OOO ; 40,000 l)ar- 
rels of oil, worth 8400,000, and 2,000 good bales of lint, valued at §22,000. They pay out 
annuallv for freight to the railway companys and steamboat lines 8100,000 ; disburse in 
wages not less than $60,000, and in other running expenses another 8100,000. In addition 
to this, there is invested in plants about 8350,000. The total monetary value to Yicksburg, 
that is tlie amount these mills put in circulation in the course of a year, is close on the 
81,000,000 mark. 

VICKSBURG AS A SITE FOR A COTTON MILL. 

The measure of the power of cotton to enrich the South has never been niade. It is 
difficult to comprehend it. Cotton is such a marvelous product that we cannot fully realize 
its value. It has been the foundation of agriculture in the South and of vast manufactur- 
ing interests, employing hundreds of millions of capital in New England and in Great 
Britain. This manufacturing industry is surely tending to the South and nothing can 
check it. In the future cotton will not simply be worth to the South an average of $350,- 
000,000 a vear, as the raw material is now, but it will create a manufacturing Inisiness 
which will more than treble the value of the crop to the South and give em]doyment 
to many thousands of hands. This may seem a broad statement, but it is borne out by 
facts. 

Cotton manufacturing like every other industry or business, is engaged in for the 
profit which it aflbrds for the employment of capital and labor. The profit in cotton nuin- 
ufacturing at present depends largely upon careful and economical management and close 
attention to details. This is true to so great an extent that the practice of economy in all 
details in one mill and the neglect of it in another will generally make the one a paying 
and the other an unprofitable enterprise. Every item of expense has to be considered, 
from the oil that lubricates the machinery to the motive power which drives it. There 
are, of course, notable exceptions in each section, but as a general rule, it may be stated 
as a proposition which cannot be controverted, that cotton unuuifacturing is far more prof- 
itable in the Southern than in the New England States. The )>ublished figures of the div- 
idends of incorporated companies establisli this fact without a doulit. 

Southern factories possess the advantages of j>roximity to the cotton fields, and a 
climate whose mildness insures them against those interruptions to work, w hich, in severe 
winters, are often causes of inconvenience and loss to Northern mills. Other advantages 
over the North are cheaper land (for sites for factories and dwellings lor operatives,) 
cheaper building material, fuel and labor, and longer working hours. Nearness to the cot- 
ton fields means not only a saving in cost of transportation of the raw material and a 
reduction to the minimum of inevital)le loss in weiglit by handling, but it means also a 
better selection and lower prices. Soutliern mills can buy their cotton direct and save the 
profits and charges which the Northern mills must i)ay to lirokers and middle-men. 

As an example of what cotton and woolen mills can do in this State, we refer to the 
Mississippi Mills, at AVesson, Miss. These mills iiave kept running with full force during 
times when Eastern mills were closed or running half time. They have sold their goods 
in the Western. Northern and even Eastern markets in successful competition with those 
of New England mills. Capitalized at 8325,000, its stock is estimated at six for one, and our 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



43 



information is that it cannot be bouglit even at that figure. Comment on such sliowing is 
unnecessary. 

Again, the cotton used in the Southernmills last 3'ear would havecost over two million 
dollars more if these mills had been located in New England instead of in tlie vicinity of 
the cotton fields. On the otiier hand, the cotton consumed last year in the Northern mills 
cost five million dollars more than if tliose factories had been in the South. If tliese estab- 
lishments liad been in the .South, enabling tliem to obtain the raw material so much 
cheaper, they would have nearly doubled their dividends. 


















1 — Home of a Negro Pl.\nter. 2 — Chick.vs.vw B.wou. 



A mill for instance, located in Vicksburg would be aide to buy right from the wagon, 
saving by actual figures in freight, compression an<l commission from SS to SlO dollars a 
bale, or over one-fourth of the value of the material. 

This is not strange, for it would be fully in accord with a correct system of economy 
if the entire cotton crop of the country should be spun in the section of its growth, and 
the proportion of it needed for the looms of the world shipped in the shape of yarns in- 
stead of cotton. 

Another point is, that the establishment of a central ginnery in connection with the 



44 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



mill would enable its projectors to manufacture cotton with its elasticity unimpaired liy 
compression, which authorities consider hijjlily detrimental to the staple. 

Tlie natural disinclination of experienced business men to entjage in a pursuit of 
which they know nothing, unless associated with otliers who are expert in the industry to 
be developed, is the chief, if not the sole reason why Vicksburg has not long ago become 
the seat of tiourishing cotton manufactures. Undoulitedly it has all tlie advantages of a 
climate and location, being nearer than New England or tlie Southwestern States to Chi- 
cago, St. Louis, Kansas City and the other distributing points, and for export to Mexico 
and Central America. It has abundance of cheai> fuel, being within accessible distance 
by direct lines of railroad to many coal mines in Alaljama, Tennessee, Kentucky and Ark- 
ansas. A tine quality of Alabama nut coal, free from slack and slate, and excellent for 
steaming purposes, is now being sold in Vicksluirg for.S2.10 jjcr ton. Slack coal is sold at 
$2.2.5. The ^Mississippi river at the city's front door, lirings coal cheiip liy Ijarge from Pitts- 
burg, Pa., and the Kanawali, West Virginia, and other mines. In the river it has ample 
water for steam purposes, and perhaps what is more than all this, it has the benefit of com- 
petition between railroatls and river routes for transportatiun nt both raw material and 
the finislied product. 

So eager are the peojde of this community for factories, that we quote the law of 
Mississippi regarding exemption from taxation : 

" All permanent factories hereafter established in this State, while this section is in 
force, for working cotton, wool, silk, furs or metals, and all other manufacturing imi)le- 
ments or articles of use in a finished state shall be exempt from taxation for a period of 
ten years." 

This on a conservative estimate, means a saving of at least 2 per cent, on the capital 
invested in plant and machinery in anj' first-class mill. 

Reviewing these advantages and coupling them with a temperate and healthy cli- 
mate, and with the fact that the founder of a mill would have no difficulty in placing a 
portion of the stock locally if he so desired, it does not take much of a prophet to foretell 
that it is only a question of a little time, when the justly famed cotton of this section, will 
be spun right here where it is grown, and with the smoke stacks of the first mills, will 
come to Vicksburg a new era of prosperity, the like of which the city fathers of a genera- 
tion ago, never dreamed. 




-- ^%S^^ J^Ji^tjll. ^ 



k ij'i 





amms 




tLTq 



CHj!i.PTER IV. 



Here is a region rich witli the varied wealth of tlie forest 
and the soil ; a new found region of delight — replete 
with scenes winsome and beautiful ; an elysium of 
almost perpetual summer possessing such an equable voluptuous climate that it requires 
no vivid imagination to fancy that within its boundary the golden Indian summer days 
first found their birth. A region tliat from the advantage of location, and the bewilder- 
ing fecundity of its lands, lias been called by scientists the " Natural Garden of the 
South." We refer to that great rich alluvial plain lying in Mississippi, and commonly 
known as the Yazoo Delta — one of the most important formations, not only in the State 
but in the entire Union. It lies between the ;Mississippi River on the West and the Yazoo 
River and its tributaries on the east, and from the line separating Mississippi and Ten- 
nessee on the nortli, to Vicksburg on the south. It comprises about 7,000 square miles, or 
4,500,000 acres of the most productive and fertile soil in the world. It is larger than the com- 
bined area of Connecticut and Rhode Island, and almost half as large as the two states 
and Massachusetts all combined. 

This vast delta is ellipsoidal in shape and its dark, rich alluvium has been formed by 
the overflow of the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers and their tributaries. Its length is ISO 
miles and its greatest width 7o miles. It embraces ten large counties. 

At its northern limit, the State line, it is very little more than ten miles wide, but 
the Mississippi River turning to the southwest, it widens rapidly, and thirty miles south- 
ward, where the dividing line between Panola and Tate counties would strike the bluff 
near Helena, Arkansas, it is about thirty-six miles wide. It reaches the greatest width 
about opposite the town of Carrollton, Carroll county, and from thence it at first narrows 
slowly, and at last rapidly. Opposite Yazoo City it is still more than forty uiiles wide, but 
ends near Vicksburg, where the hills close in towards the banks of the ^lississippi River. 

A peculiar feature of this vast region is, that tliere is not a hill in it save those that 
fringe the eastern border; not a stone save those brought here by man. The chief eleva- 
tions are the Indian mounds, some of them not ignoble rivals of the pyramids, and un- 
doubtedly, the work of the mound-builders of pre-historic times, traces of whose existence 
are to be found from the Gulf of Mexico to the shores of Lake Winnipeg, but wliose his- 
tory is Ijased wholly on conjecture. The race has vanished, leaving traces of its existence 
puzzling to the minds of those versed in arclueological lore. The earthworks they left are 
overgrown with large trees, the hieroglyphics olditerated by age, the places of defense or 
abode have crumbled away, and only the outline of their original shape is traceable amid 
the ruins that time has made. Even the Indians have no traditions regarding this extinct 
and almost forgotten race. The earliest visitors to the continent give no account of them. 
But their sepulchral mounds, their skeletons, their pottery and their sliells, tell the tale of 
their existence and nothing more. Here is a field of research for the stuilent, and the his- 
torian. Whence came these quiet sleepers, who with fleshless palms, crossed as in mute 
expectancy, miglit have slumbered on till the morn of resurrection, but for the love of 
adventure of our ancestors, whose descendants have rudely disturl.)e<l their rest ? What 
the fate of this great mound-building race, which from the shadow of the Andes to the far 
North, have traversed the continent ? AVrapped in a veil of mystery which may never be 
uplifted until that supreme hour when all things shall be revealed. 



46 PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 

,SO/L AXD CLIMATE. 

The location of this vast bed of inexhaustible fertility is as advantageous as its other 
conditions. The Yazoo & Mississij^pi Valley road, the Illinois Central System, spans its en- 
tire length and carries its products in a few hours to that gateway of tiie world, Xew Or- 
leans, while Vicksburg in the South is an ample and convenient supply market. Large 
navigable streams, as seen by the map of the Basin of the Yazoo. How tlirough the Delta, 
making a perfect net-work of waterways. Tliere are at least thirty-one that are utilized 
by steamboats of from fifty to one thousand tons burden. Those all flow into tlie Yazoo 
River, which receives the entire drainage from Horn Lake to the city of Vicksburg. Be- 
sides these streams that, together with the Yazoo, are navigable upwards of eight hundred 
miles, there are many large bayous that are used by raftsmen and those engaged in getting 
out timber. Tliese also are capable of being navigated by small craft for two or three 
months during the rainy season. 

Probably there never was a section of country the victim of such erroneous impres- 
sions held by those not familiar it, as this great Delta. It has been considered by many a 
swamp, whereas, althougli generally tiat, it has a perfect natural drainage, government 
engineers crediting it with a fall of 114 feet from its northern extremity at Horn Lake to 
the mouth of the Yazoo River. Hence the prejudice which has long existed on this 
account, as to its supposed unfitness for cultivation and for health, is rapidly dying out, 
and it is now generally considered in its vast ])Ossibilities of more value tlian all the other 
sections of the State combined. It is true that up to a few years ago mucli of the Delta 
was subject to overflow in times of higli water, but with tlie superb system of levees which 
now exist, stretching south from ilemphis to the moutli of the Yazoo River, tliis disad- 
vantage has been entirely removed. To indemnify tlie land against Hood from ISii-T to 
1892 no less than §7,69-5,229 was expended ; of this amount, i^6.920,-594 was contributed by 
the local levee interests, and S774,(il!o.72 liy the Federal Uovernment. 

Tlie soil of the Delta is of two classes, loam and clay, the former varying in color 
but generally dark, and easy to cultivate. The loam lies in ridges five or six feet high 
along the banks of the streams. The clay underlies the loam tliroughout tne Delta, and is 
reached between the loam ridges where the surface has received less deposit. Tlie clay 
lands are popularly known as " buckshot lands," from the soil drying into angular bits the 
size of a buckshot, and of a lead color. When wet, the soil is soft, smooth and slipjiery, 
and when dry is loose and light and falls to pieces. The " buckshot " lands are considered 
the most productive in the Delta, and taken one year with another, will easily produce 
with proper cultivation from one to two bales of cotton and from sixty to eighty bushels 
of corn per acre. Professor Hilgard ascribes their fertility mainly to certain ferruginous 
concretions which tliey contain and deems them almost inexhaustible. They will raise 
anvthing, and almost everything, from the Silierian crab-apple to the strawberry and the 
peach ; from Indian corn to indigo. The far-famed Blue Grass region of Kentucky cannot 
surpass the "buckshot," or clay lands in the production of grass, when the war waged 
upon it by the planters shall have ceased. Tliere is a story told of a planter near Green- 
ville who sowed grass on his land, ami it grew and grew by leaps and bounds till it was 
many feet high, when a neighbor sued out an injunction against him for obstructing the 
view from his windows. Fortunately when the case came to trial the court decided that 
grass on a neighbor's farm was an atHiction that had to be borne. 

Cattle and hogs thrive in the Delta almost without lieing fed. The wild grasses in 
summer, and the switch cane in winter, keep the cattle in gooil order, whilst roots, acorns, 
beech nuts, pecan nuts, etc., furnish abundant supplies of food for the hogs. The whole 
Delta is burdened with animal life, and nothing short of a volume can describe its wealth 
and attractions. 

It is in truth, 

" .... a goodly sight to see 

What heaven has done for tliis delicious land. 
What fruits of fragrance blush on every tree." 

Such prodigality of resources as the Delta contains was not intended merely to gar- 
nish a desert of beauty, but for all arts, all culture, and a dense population of imlustrious 
people. 

TIMBER AXD FORESTS. 

The entire surface of the Delta save where it has been cut down for the purpose of 
cultivation, or by lumbering operators, is covered by a heavy, dense growth of timber. 
The cleared portion does not represent more than one-eighth of its area, the other seven- 
eighths is overgrown with probalily the heaviest forest on the American continent. There 
are forests where the trees are more crowded, and feeble and attenuated in consequence, 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



47 



but in nil |iijrtiiiii nf tlic >;loli(.' can tliere be Sffii trees where the foliage is higher overhead, 
or wliere the great trunks, lovinj;!}' entwined witli vines and creepers, seem so sound and 
liealthy, and stand in such endless and impressive columns around the traveler. It is a 
perfect museum of woods, a veritable hot-house of wild fruits, a seemingly interminable 
jungle of small shrubs and berry-bearing plants. 

Every year finds some new use for the valuable timl)ers of the South. It is but a few 
years since no one had a word of praise or could find any use for Cottonwood. Now it is 
one of the best and most called for woods of the South, and as the poplar is disappearing, 
and the poplar when once cut never reproduces itself, the once despised Cottonwood now 
comes to take its place and it is found that it requires skill and experience to distinguish 
the true yellow cotton wood from the jioplar. The small cottonwoods of the islands in the 
southern rivers, which every river man has looked upon as a nuisance to be gotten rid of 
in any possible way, have been found to be the finest of all material for wood pulp, and it 
reproduces itself almost as rapidly as the swamp willow. 




Yazoo Kivek Bridge. 



For a long time the cypress was supposed to be good only for well curbing, and to be 
a sort of bastard i)ine. Tlie fact that it was, humanly speaking, everlasting, did not appear 
to introduce it to the favor of the ordinary lumberman, or builder. It took long years for 
the furniture manufacturers of the Northern and European manufacturing furniture cen- 
tres to learn of and apju-eciate the beauties of the Mississippi woods — the quartered oak, 
the veined ash, the ribbon-huefl sassafras, etc. As all of these and others have been dis- 
covered and brought to the notice of the Northern or Eastern architect and builder, the 
growth and development of that liranch of Southern lumbering industry has been unpre- 
cedented. Not only has the prejudice or ignorance concerning the value and beauty of 
the Southern woods been forced to give way as these woods come more and more into pub- 
lic notice, but the fact of the increased cost of northern lumber and its scarcity obliged the 
turning to the South for the necessary building material, and every use of these southern 
woods has added to their popularity. 



48 HCTURESQlTE ViCKSBrRG. 

The enormous timber resources of the Delta, and the great variety of wooils to be 
found there, coupled with the remarkably luw jiriie at which the best timber can be pur- 
chased gives the section extraordinary advantages for tlie establishment of furniture fac- 
tories and other enterprises of a similar character. To attempt to enumerate the difier- 
ent species that uprear their trunks from its prolitic soil would be tedious alike to reader 
and writer. The number would run into the hundreds, and tlien not be complete, for 
there are ]iortions of the Yazoo Delta, where the axe has never rung, where the foot of the 
white man has never trod — that are to-day, as silent, as primeval, as when the discoverer 
of America first sighted the shores of this great continent. 

Following is a partial catalogue of the commercial timbers common to the Delta: 
Oak, 12 varieties; cypress. 5 varieties ; cotton wood, white and black ash, red gum, pecan, 
walnut, etc., etc. Besides these there are a great variety of smaller woods, some bear- 
ing fruit, but whose timber is none the less valuaVjle; such as the black locust tree, the 
wood of which is very hard and durable, and is frequently used in the interior for wagon 
hubs, posts, etc.; the wild plum, which sometimes has a diameter of 14 inches, the mock 
orange, or wild peach ; the wild cherry, the wood of which is used for inlaid work, and the 
apple haw, and wild crab-apple tree. 

A comparison of the opinions and statements of the heaviest mill men of the Delta 
shows, that the logs that are brought to tlie mills will average, ash, 22 inches in diameter ; 
Cottonwood, 36 ; cypress, 34 ; oak, 30; poplar, 34. Certainly, lumber cut from such logs 
must be of better, more matured and durable quality than that cut from the small and 
immature logs of the North. 

The most valuable timber for shipping purposes and most in demand is the oak. Cot- 
tonwood, poplar, ash and walnut. It is estimated that everv vear there is shipped away 
from the Delta to Northern mills not less than lt1,000,000' feet of oak, 25.ai0,000 of 
Cottonwood, 10,000,000 feet of ash, 50,000,000 feet of cypress, or a total of something like 
95,000,000 feet. To those unacquainted with the vast wooded area of the Delta, this 
might suggest speedy exhaustion of timber. Not so though, the timber lands of the 
Delta have been pronounced inexhaustible, and while this is of course, a fallacy, the 
amount of standing timber is very great. 

Authorities agree in computing the area of the forest land at about 3,750,000 acres, 
for certainly less than 1,000,000 acres of the Delta is cleared land, and about one-half of 
this only is in cultivation. The estimated yield per acre varies from 5,000 to 30,000 feet of 
lumber. 

VALUE AXD USES OF THE TIMBER. 

But a little calculation is necessary to show tlie magnitude of these figures. Tuking 
the minimum yield of 5,000 feet per acre, for a basis, it gives us 18,750,000,000 feet as the 
Delta's supply of timber — quite a ])ile of firewood, enough to keep the toes warm of every 
man, and woman and child living in the North, for many a long moon to come. Of this, 
two-thirds, or 12,.500,000,000 feet, may be classified as choice hard wood, worth, cut, at any 
mill, for shipping or home purposes S15 per 1,000 feet. This alone in round numbers 
amounts to the respectable sum of 8187,500,000. But we have still a trifie of 6.250.000,000 
feet to our credit, made up of cottonwood and other woods. This, allowing for some of it 
to be second class, would make a market value at the mill of not less than SIO per 1.000 
feet, or another 862,500,000, which added to the former sum, swells the monetary value of 
the Delta's timber crop to 82.50,000,000, an estimate which is more likely under the mark 
than over it. 

Eighteen billion feet ! The mind can scarcely conceive what a vast mass of timber 
this is. Cut into inch planks 34 feet long by 12 inches wide, and stacked close together, 7 
feet high, it would cover 11,707 acres. If these planks were laid three abreast and end on 
they would form a continuous sidewalk three feet wide and 1.183,710 miles long. Placed 
singly they would reach 141 times around the world. Cut up into railway ties 8 feet long 
6 by 8 inches, it would make 58(i,000,000 ties. Allowing 3.520 to a mile, this would build a 
railway 160,000 miles long. Made into firewood it would represent 146,500 000 cords, suffi- 
cient to supply the State of Mississippi, at the present annual consumption, for 240,t)00 
years. Cut into boards, and allowing 10,000 feet to a car, to transi>ort this mass, it would 
require 1,875,000 cars. Counting 40 cars to a train loail, it would make just 46,885 such 
loads. Counting the length of a car at 34 feet, these would form a train of cars 10,180 
miles long, and so we might go on. 

Of the varietiesof Delta timlier. that we have enumerated, the most valnalde for ship- 
ping purposes are quarter-sawed white oak, cottonwood, cypress and ash and locust. 

The sterling qualities of Mississijipi oak, the beautiful finish it takes, are generally 
understood everywhere. There are twelve varieties ; six of the twelve varieties of oak are 
good for staves, and there is a wheel made from the water oak that has been running over 
forty years in the Delta, Of the two varieties of locust the black locust is the best post- 
timber in the world ; the broad statement is made that it never rots. Cottonwood 




Ctjnion — Ba5in-c]-yazan-R-iver - 

A■^^4,■U5■TT.^but.a1^. t B 



-Skaded Portiort 5Koui-s 

Mississibbi-VazooDeLta.- 



— H t »H "V^ 



a zoo -flivir 

TcTiuLa- LaKt _ 

JtaLflbusTia 

Q.Lltt'hatc'h.te _ 
_oLd-Water.R 



T ER N J. VI Q A.TI OM ■ 



Mtaol-o) River 
Swe-Tv '- ta.Kt 

^LQvkiiaLc lira 

W«a(l-ol-Lakt_J kf 
■Cenad'o, 6J 

JoLtl-lVatcr-fL f? 
J('a.2Da - Pa»i iT 

'^ tit 



50 PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 

also needs no eulogy, but a word about the cypress will not be out of place. To tlie 
Southernt'r it is the wood of woods, on aetount of its practically indestructible na- 
ture ; a niiality up till quite recently i^noreil in the Nortii. Boat builders now use it 
to a coiis'iderable extent. Many oi the small boats beloniring to the meu-ofwar of 
the Tnited States service are constructeil of cypress ; much is used for water tanks, 
sugar-coolers, and cisterns on account of durability ; some enters into the construc- 
tion of houses and house finishing, it being excellent in ceiling, and large quantities are 
made into shingles and railroad cross-ties ; some claim that shingles properly prepared 
will last one hundred years ; they are certainly very durable. AVood taken from submerged 
swamps, which has been in contact with decaying influences of mud and water for untold 
centuries, is found to lie in an excellent state of preservation. Cypress logs have been 
taken from the soil deep under New Orleans ingooil I'oudition. Evidences are alnindant and 
conclusive in regard to the lasting properties of the wood ; hence, it is gradually creeping 
into use more and more every year. Already it is being used in many fashionable houses 
in New York and other cities, and in the near future the demand for it is likely to be 
greater than the supply. 

There are several varieties of ash : The cane ash is very tough and is used for mak- 
ing oars and agricultural machinery; the black ash is consumed in great quantities by 
furniture factories ; the blue ash is a beautiful variegated wood, and the swamp ash is con- 
verted into ]iump tindjer. Four kinds of gum grow in the Delta — the Tupelo, which is so 
soft and light that it can be compressed and iiKUilded: the white; the red, which imi- 
tates mahogany closely, and the brown gum, which is called "satin-wood," and is used 
for veneering the interior of the flnest passenger coaches. 

There has sprung up recently and is slowly increasing, an export demand for per- 
simmon logs. This is used for shoe lasts and loom shuttles, it having a fine grain, which 
does not work up rough when used against the grain. Of this lumber there are two kinds, 
one, the white, wdiich is used for exporting and the other, the yellow, which is of no value 
as a commercial wood. There is a fair amount of each kind growing in the Mississippi 
Delta. There is fmt very little difTerence in api)earance between the two kinds when 
growing in the forest, and experience and observation is required to distinguish one from 
the other in tlie rough. 

Another kind of timber which has come into export demand is pecan. A leading 
lumber man in the Delta, recently received an order for 40.000 feet of this lumber for ex- 
port, for what purpose to lie used he did not know. He found some difficulty in filling the 
order, owing to the unwillingness of the mill-men to cut and work it, it being a timber to 
which tliey were unaccustomed. 

NEW INDUSTRIES. 

Yet another important item in the development of the lumber business in the Delta 
is the steady coming to this section of the smaller woodworking shops and factories. The 
coming of the large ones, the big car works, the syndicates with their hundreds of work- 
men and extensive plants, building up villages of their own, is all well, it is "a big 
thing" for the country, but better than these is the constant coming in of Hmall indus- 
tries. The advent of these industries does not call for as much local rejoicing, so many 
headlines in the morning paper, but it does very much to build up the villages and smaller 
towns and relatively bring more money and enterprise to the village or cross-roads liamlet, 
than does the large plant to the city. As the country is the bone and sinew of the nation, 
so these small wood working industries are the strength of the lumber interest. 

The people of Vicksliurg and the Delta generally, are alive to this, and through 
organized bodies, sucli as the Board of Trade, and the efforts of individual citizens are 
continually seeking to pl.ace before investors the Delta's remarkable advantages. The 
result of this continued agitation and advertisement has awakened a brisk line of enquiry 
from the North, and within the last six months has led to the establishing of a broom fac- 
tory, and a match factory, the latter as already stated, being so far as the writers know, 
the tirst and only one in the South. 

The belief has become current, that when the saw mill trees have been cut away, 
that nothing of value is left. On the contrary, the work of production is only ready to 
begin. The loss of the falling tree, generally left by the mill operator, can be cut into cord 
wood anil sold for domestic purposes, or burnt into charcoal. That portion of the tree 
which is left on the ground, being the upper and near the limbs, too small for saw logs, can 
be cut into posts or cross ties. 

The fallen timber and the defective trees not suitable for mill purposes will yield in 
wood three to seven cords per acre. After these items are taken into account, there still 
remains an abundance of standing small tindier to make rails for fences with, and thus 
the forest acre bereft of its big trees, still contributes to the cost of its own clearing and 
fencing, and deposits from S2.00 to $3.00 additional in the pocket of the owner. 

These lands when cleared yield a good crop the first year. The second year the 



52 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



f;round enjoys a full-tide harvest. It is upon lands of this kind, once covered with timber, 
that the enormous crops of cotton and corn that justly make the Delta famous, are grown. 

I>et the reader look aliout liiia and sec what an important part lumber and wood 
play in tlie intricate drama of commercial life. Tlien let him reflect how indespen.sible 
are the fruits of the farm, tlie orchard and the garden. After he has done this, a clarilied 
vision will reveal to him the prodigious possibilities of the forest region of the Delta. He 
will wonder how it is that these lands are selling after the saw-mill trees have been cut 
away at the iiitable price of So.OO to So. 00 an acre, when even the rubbish left upon them 
is worth more. 

With a wasting wealth of fuel to supply cotton factories alongside the cotton field, 
or canning factories at the gateway of the truck farm, and sash and door and wood finish- 
ing plants alongside the mill, there does not remain an abiding olistacle to success and 
fortune. In one and thesame vicinity arecombined all theneeilful elementsof a prosperous 
rural and inihistrial community. The balmy air, fragrant with the perfume of sweet smel- 
ling grasses and trees, that life-preserving ozone so coveted by the invalid, add to the 
attractions of this region. Its limited wliite population commends it to the white set- 
tler. Nothing stands in the way of the early development of this great and hitherto neg- 
lected section, except tlie lack of knowledge regarding its real merits. The Delta needs 
1,000,000 frugal, enterprising, industrious and intelligent farmers who will strike hard blows 
with the ax and hoe; who will follow tlie plow, drive the wagon and reaper, sow their 
grain, ]dant their orchards, gather their fruits, and who will not Vie asliamed to be seen 
doing all and every kind of work demanded for the successful prosecution of their busi- 
ness. In other words, it needs intelligent farmers who are not ashamed to work, and 
who will save a part of their earnings for future investment. This is the force that 
will vitalize this boundless section into abundant streams of prosperity. 




A Planter's Home, Built on an Indian Mound. 








0DUCTi0i^S OF THE P'ELT 

CHAPTER V. 



Almost of a surety, if a farmer in the Delta was to be asked what his farm would 
grow, he w'ould reply " everythiug," and there would be less exagfjeration in tliis sweeping 
statement than would appear on the surface of it. The reason for this is not far to seek^ 
It may be expressed in one word, climate ! For here is a section of rich country which 
may be said to lie on the verge of the temperate and tropical worlds — where the chill of 
winter winds, and the fierceness of the torrid heat are not known ; where the prolonged 
spring, the fruitful summer, tempered with the soft, pervading cooling breeze, the genial 
bright and sunny fall, and uniformly mild and gentle winter, seem specially ordained by 
nature to work hand in hand with a prolific and ever yielding soil. 

The lands of the Delta will produce nearly all the crops and fruits of the ISIiddle, 
Northern and Soutliern States, and in addition, a great variety of semi-tropical fruits and 
vegetable. The settler may turn his attention to almost any crop with equal hope of suc- 
cess. For instance, he may raise cotton, tobacco, sugar, indigo, hemp, jute, etc.; or rye, 
corn, oats, rice, beans, peas, etc.; or Irish potatoes, sweet lootatoes, yams, turnips, beets, 
cabbages, egg plants, squashes, etc., or strawberries, melons, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc., or 
go into fruit, as peaches, apples, figs, grapes, plums, pecans, etc. All crops whether of 
fruit or vegetable, mature so much earlier than further north, that the producers receive a 
threefold jirice as compared with other parts of the United States. 

Yes ! it will grow everything— and why ? 

A little research among meteorological reports, show a preponderance of advantage in 
favor of this section with which it is not usually credited. In Vicksburg, for instance, and 
indeed in the Delta generally, the uniform summer temperature is SO to S.") degrees, rarely 
reaching over this and then only 90 to 92 degrees. The maximum temperature in summer 
may be certainly placed at 95 degrees, and the minimum temperature in winter at 25 
degrees, with an average not below 45 degrees. In Mobile, Ala; Galveston, Texas ; St. 
Augustine, Florida ; Charleston, S. C; Savannah, Ga.; and New Orleans, La., the extremes 
of temperature in summer and winter, range mucdi in excess of these figures. 

Well then may all murmurs cease and discouragement give way to praise, wlien from 
Florida on the east to California in the west, there is not a country blessed with a more 
equable climate. But we can go further than this. The countries of the Mediterranean — 
that land of grapes and olives — sung in song, told of in story, possess greater extremes of 
heat and cold than tiiis Delta of ours, and we have the facts to prove it. Here for the 
reader's consideration, is an autlientic record of temperatures of all the jirominent fruit 
and garden growing districts of sunnj' Southern Europe : 



54 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



Place. 



.SHORES OF THE MEDITERAXEAN. 

Spain : 

Malaga 

Cadiz 

Valencia 

Alnieria 

Portugal : 

Lisbon 

Oporto 

South France : 

Marseilles 

Nice 

La Sauve 

Italy : 

Genoa 

Naples 

Eome 

Greece, Athens 

Syria, Beyrut 

Egypt, Alexanilria 

Africa, Algiers 

ISLANDS OF THE MEDITERAXEAX. 

Cyprus, Larnaca 

Sicily, Palermo 

LSLAXnS OF THE ATLANTIC. 

San Miguel, The Azores 

Teneriffe, F-agnna 

^laderia, Fuiiclial 

Bermuda.s, Hamilton 



Maximum 


Minimum 


m 


summer 


in winter 


month 


s. 


months. 


Degreet 




Degrees. 


100 


107 


109 


32 


35 38 


97 


99 


103 


35 


36 39 


97 


98 


109 


19 


27 32 


92 


97 




37 


43 ... 


07 


99 


100 


31 


32 34 


95 


97 


100 




31 ... 


92 


95 




23 


24 26 


92 






25 


27 29 


96 


99 


101 


16 


18 23 


89 


90 




24 


36 ... 


95 


99 




27 


32 ... 


95 


97 


98 


16 


21 26 


102 


105 


105 


20 


21 26 


91 


94 


98 


41 


43 48 


95 


96 


101 


55 


46 48 


97 


100 


106 


34 


36 37 



98 


107 




30 


35 




100 


108 


ii2 


30 


31 


33 


83 


84 


86 


41 


42 




101 


104 


106 


37 


38 




86 


89 


90 


43 


44 


46 


93 


94 




40 


43 





From the statistics it will be perceived as we have stated, that with the exception 
of a few isolated islands, all the continental places of gardening have as great and 
greater extremes of cold than the denizens of this favored locality. This portion of Mis 
sissippi tlierefore ranks fully equal in climate with sunny Europe, and many, many times 
its value in diversity of products and material. 

Though it may seem outside the province of this chapter, let us also take a glance 
at the statistics of the climate of the continent of Asia, gained likewise from official 
sources : 



Place. 



China : 

Hong Kou< 
Za-Ka-Wei 

Japan, Tokio .. 

Australia : 

Melbourne 
Sidnev 



Maximum 

in summer 

months. 


Minimum 

in winter 

months. 


Der/rees. 
fll '92 93 
96 99 102 
95 95 96 

109 110 111 
93 96 97 


Deqrees. 
41 '42 44 
12 15 26 
15 17 19 

27 28 31 
40 42 ... 



In the Asiatic climate, we have again a most favorable comparison for this section. 
In .Tapan there is nearly a similar summer temperature to this, but colder winters, and at 
^lelbourne, Australia, and Hong Kong, China, almost similar winters exist. We avoid the 
extremes of summer heat of Australia and extremes of Japan. Surely, in such a climate 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



55 



as this, there must be something of more than unusual value. What is it, and what is its 
worth ? 

Some of the advantages possessed by this climate are these : 

1. A ceaseless season of growing crops. There is hardly such a thing as set seasons 
for using the ground. AVhen done with one crop, immediately use it for another. AVin- 
ters are used to grow winter crops; spring for others; summers, other crops still. The 
ground is never frozen, and the plow and seed-sower are used the year round. Two crops 
are frequently gathered from laud in one year, and Ijy judicious use four successive crops 
can be raised on the same ground. The possibilities of agriculture in this latitude can 
hardly be exaggerated. For example, it is perfectly practicable to plant a crop of potatoes 
in December or January, harvest the crop in !May, plant corn in the same ground, followed 
by potatoes in August to be harvested in October, leaving the soil free for cabbages or 
turnips until January again. 













Coming into Town for Supplies. 



2. Our seasons are earlier. A full month's difference in j)lanting exists between 
the climate of this section and that of northern Texas, and still another period of two or 
three weeks yet is added to this for the climate of southern or middle Kansas or Colorado ; 
crops that are gather(>d there in August are gathered here in June, and other crops gath- 
ered here in the the si)ring before their planting begins. We have a prolonged spring sea- 
son which includes all the springs from here far north for over 800 miles, wliich begins 
here in Feljruary an<l does not end until May. When the Sei>tembcr frosts cut down the 
garden crops and the vegetation there, we go on with our seasonable work regardless of 
care and of cold, and our flrst notice of any slight change is the first light breeze from the 
north in November, or later yet. Christinas is always green. 

3. An immense advantage is the prolonged growing season for vine and tree growth. 
Nearly all vines and trees, with other things equal, will make double the growth here as com- 



56 PICTrUESQUE VICKSBURG. 

pared with any localit_v Nortli, /. e., one season here equals nearl_v two there. For trees there 
is hardly any rest. If the leaves siiould fall in December, the trees spring into life, new liud 
and growth in February. Nature hardly dies. It takes a resting spell and then trav- 
els with accelerated speed. If you plant a cutting to-day, it is a tree the first year and you 
can sit under the shade of the leaves. It is possible to plant cutting.-; of Cottonwood, "the 
united growth of which tlie first year will exceed 40 feet. You may ]>lant cuttings of figs, 
hardly one-half inch thick and ten inches long, which will mature from ten to fifteen feet 
of wood, and the trunk at the base be as large as your wrist. Give a tree its proper advant- 
ages ami you will be astonished at its growth. 

4. A great advantage of this section is the prolonged sea.son for marketing. Grow- 
ers have markets around them north of them for liundreds of miles, and the cry for vege- 
tables is early and late. From February until June and July you can sell something con- 
stantly or ship something away somewhere. As fast as the near-by markets are sup|>lied 
the next farther north are ready for early produce and the wave of demand swells and 
moves farther and still farther north. Unlike other sections on the Atlantic coast, wliere 
each grower has but two or three weeks at a time to market his crops, here it is in constant 
demand and shipment from early spring until late. 

CORN AND OTHER CROPS. 

Of course, the first and most important is cotton. This has alrcaily lieen treated of, 
so we will pass it by, without further comment than to say, the Delta can and does raise, 
more of the fleecy white sulistance to the acre, than any otlier part of the world. 

Next in importance to cotton comes cor.n. The lands of the Delta are especially suited 
to the cultivation of this crop, ami more i)roductive than those of Illinois or Iowa. Corn 
may be planted here in February, and good crops are often grown from lands from which 
oats or wlieat lias been harvested, and the [ilanting delayed as late as June or even July. 
When planted in July the corn has still more than three months before it can be injured by 
frosts, and so with favorable weather for six weeks after planting, a crop is assured. It is 
no uncommon occurrence f()rai)lanter in the Delta, to raise sixty bushels'to the acre, while 
on selected ground the yield reaches even more than one hundred Ijushels. Corn in the 
Delta, is getting to be as staple as cotton in a way, every colored person who has any land 
at all, raises enough for his own home consumption, to last him thrcuigh the winter, with 
some to |)eddle out to the nearest market as well. 

It can be raised with the most slovenly cultivation, ground jdowed three inches <leep 
with one small mule, when it should be plowed eight. 

Wheat grows as well here as in Ohio or Wisconsin, and is of good quality. Before 
the war, much of the flour consumed in the State, was made from wheat grown at home, 
but at present prices other crops are more profitable, except w here the w heat can be grown 
as an incidental crop to occupy the lan<l during the winter. The average yield of the wheat 
grown in the Delta, is about jo bushels to the acre. 

0.\TS may be sowed at any time from (!)ctober to ^larch, and when sowed early make 
the best of winter grazing. The yield is usually less than in some of the Northern States. 
but the crop makes such excellent pasture that it is valued highly for winter feeding, and 
as it can be grown when the land would otherwise be idle, planters are fast recognizing its 
importance and increasing its acreage. 

Rye and Barley are also grown for winter pastures, but not as largely for grain as 
farther north. 

Sorghum is grown very generally all over the Delta, and thousands of barrels 
are annually shi))ped to the markets of the North. Nearly every farmer in the Delta has 
his patch of I>ouisiana sugar cane, an acre or two for home consunii>tion and the local mar- 
ket. Very little of this is converted into sugar, but from .">00 to 400 gallons of superior 
syrups are produced to the acre, and the surplus finds a ready sale at good (iriccs, often 
bringing in to the farmer as much as $200 per acre. One acre, well prepared and mode- 
rately enricheil, planted in Louisiana sugar cane, will yield more molasses, and of the very 
best ipiality than any white family in any county in the Slate will use in one year. 

Kick is an important grain crop wliicb is planted in some portions of the Delta, but not 
to anv great extent. When it is grown the yield is from forty to fifty bushels per acre. 
One-eighth of an acre of rice will be ample to supply the table of any white family for one 
year, and in addition, will pay the toll for cleaning it at the mill, etc. 

Hemi" is another croi/wldch finds just the soil and climate wliieli it needs in the 
rich bottom region of the Delta. Its cultivation there is of recent introiluction. but the 
small plantings and experiments that have been made there during the last three years 
have been so encouraging that a factory for working it is now being erected near (ireen- 
ville, where a large acreage will be jilanted <luring the coming season. 

In fact, there is scarcely any fiehl croj) grown in the Northern States which cannot 
be grown with even greater success and less cost in the Delta. Cotton has been the lead- 
ing crop so long that it has overshadowed many other crops of greater profit, and it is 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



57 



tliounht by many who have not examined our possibilities, that Mississippi can ^tow notli- 
in;; but cotton — a mistake into v liich even some of our own planters have fallen. With 
cotton bringing ?100 per acre, many of the planters forgot that they couhl till their corn 
cribs and smoke-houses at almost nominal expense and so imported nearly all their sup- 
plies, including even hay, which was fed to the mules whi(di raised the cotton. The decline 
in the price of cotton, liowever, has taught them to look more closely after otlier crops, 
and they are finding that they are not only able to su]>ply their own needs, but that these 
formerly neglected crojis are often tlie most profitable part of their farm. 

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. 

Fruit raising as a vo: ation was hardly known South until after the war. Before the 
war, many had their orchards of one fruit and another ; but it would have been consid- 
ered then,' utterly petty and contemptible to have raised fruit and Sold it— as beneath any 
gentleman. Tliirty-tive years ago this was jirecisely the view ahuost all tlirough the South. 
Now who sliall tell of the development of Mississippi in fruit culture ? Who can fix its 
boundaries ? Who can depict the transformation scenes of the trackless woods, with peach 
and pear orchards — with groves of luscious figs and plums. The raising of early vegeta- 
bles for shipment to the Northern market could be made as profitable an industry in the 




St.\rting to Chukch. 

Delta as it is to the farmers in the bill lands, where it has assumed extensive proportions, 
and won for them an enviable reputation in the markets of Cincinnati, St. Louis, Boston, 
Chicago, and even Denver. 

Mississippi strawberries and tomatoes are known in every little town and cross- 
roads in tlie North, and indeed in many Northwestern States, the first herald of approach- 
ing spring is the arrival of Mississippi lettuce and peas, which have been grown here in 
the open, while our distant customers were shoveling snow. 

In the Delta strawberries, tomatoes, cucumliers, beans, peas, cabliages, lettuce and 
Irish potatoes, can all be raised to yield wonderful returns, and no tangible reason can be 
given why the farmers here have not long ago endjraced the opportunity to replenish 
their bank accounts, unless it be the want of ready and reliable transportation facilities, 
now supplied by the Illinois Central Railroad system and its numerous branches. This 
road has done everytlnng in its power to promote truck gardening, offering cheap and 
fast transportation from each of its numerous stations. There is but one reason for the 
failure to embrace these offers — the people have sense enough to know that they are not 
familiar with the business. It might be added that they are otherwise profitably 
engaged. 

5 



58 



PICTURESQUE VICKSRURG. 



APPLES. 





It cannot be said that very niueh attention has been jiiven to the raising of apples, 
though they unquestionably do well here, and are extremely jirotitable, as the supply is 
much less than the home demand. The trees here may not be as 
long lived as at the North, but they come in earlier, liear 
more regularly, and tlie fruit is of the best quality. Early apples 
might be sliipped quite largely, as they would reaeli Nurthern 
markets in advance of those from any other section, and so com- 
mand liigh prices. Winter varieties, however, are generally more 
profitable, as they always find a liome market at much V>etter 
l)rices than are paid at tlie North. During the winter montlis 
apples in Mississippi sell higher per bushel than do oranges. The 
owners of old api)le orchards are more than satistied with their 
investments, and the planting of new orchards cannot fail to be a 
]>roti table investment. 

PEARS. 

For many years, pears in great varieties, notably the Le 
Conte, have been the favorite incumbents of the orchards in 
tlie southern and middle portions of tlie Delta, and are found to 
succeed well. Standards have been extensively jilanted of late 
years. Among these the Bartlett has so far proven the most sat- 
isfactory. The rapidity of its growth, the small amount of capital, 
laliorand time, required to secure bearing orchards of any extent, 
its wonderful proliticness, and earliness of ripening, should make 
the production of the pear a popular investment in this portion of 
the State. At the time of writing, as fine a looking pear as could 
be seen in the most favored localities of the United States, can be 
bought daily on the streets of Vicksburg for (iO cents to SI. 00 a 
bushel, or 2.5 to 30 cents a peck. They are not small either, but 
large and juicy, and one of them is quite as much as any person 
would care to eat at a time. 

There are orchards in the Delta, that have given from S,3 to 
So per tree in ten years from planting, and many smaller orchards 
have given even better cash returns. The price seldom deviates, 
for the cjuantity of first-class pears has never yet been known to 
glut the market. California Bartletts begin to arrive in New 
Orleans the latter part of July, and from that time until the middle 
of September are very abundant in the market, yet the price 
keeps up all the time, to from S3 to S4 per bushel. 

PEACHES. 

This fruit grows well in all parts of the Delta, though it has 
not been cultivated to any extent for shipment, except in Shar- 
key county, where there are several large orchards, yiehling re- 
markably fine fruit, Chinese clings fre- . quently weigh- 
ing a pound each. Almost every plan- Sly^C '••''"" "'""^ farm 
-no matter how small, has a sufficient ^^^^ numlier of trees 

on the place to 
yield them all 
they require for 
preserving a n d 
eating purposes. 
During the sea- 
son, from .lune to 
Octiilier. large 
<iuantities are 
brought into the 
city of Vicksburg 
When first in, like all other early fruit, they command a 
ready sale at high figures, and fetch from $3 to S4 a bushel. Along in the early part of 
the fall though they may be bought for 25 cents a peck, and even less. Tlie varieties most 
successfully grown in the neighborhood of Vicksburg are the Beatrice, Mountain Eose, 
Elberta, etc. 








and sold from wagons. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



59 



PLUMS. 

Many varieties of plums are quite extensively raised, and thei'e is not a shadow of 
doubt that fruit of this liind can be grown on selected land that will conimaiul the highest 
fancy prices in all foreign markets. In tlieir wild state, j^lums aliound all tlirough the 
Delta in great profusion ; and riding along the roads it is a common thing for tlie traveler 
to pull up his hoi'se by the side of a plum patch that fringes the highway and then regale 
himself to his heart's content, filling a sack, a bucket, or any receptacle he may have with 
him as well, if he diooses. On the whole, but little attempt has been made to cultivate 
the finer varieties, except on the part of a few of the most progressive farmers. These 
have been well rewarded by fruit of more than ordinarv size and excellence, especially 
suited for profitable shipment to the North and New Orleans, and the writers are credi- 
bly informed that this season many hundreds of new plum trees have been set out within 
a five miles radius of Vicksburg, Varities that are known to do well are the the Kelsey 
and others of that type. 

GRAPES. 

Grapes of the American hybrid varieties, obtain their greatest perfection in the foot- 
hills east of the Delta, and can not be excelled elsewhere east of the Rocky ilountains. 
In the Delta itself, they have been known to grow with equal avidity, and are looked upon 
as one of the standard fruits. The seasons here are so long that the vines make double 
the growth they do in the north, they never require protection from winter freezes, and the 
latest ripening sorts never fail to reach maturity. If the vines are cared for, they will 
often ripen five pounds of fruit in eighteen months from planting, and such is the vigor of 
their growth, that they are not injured liy producing such crops while still so young. 

Vines grow much larger liere than in the North, and bear with corres]>ondingly 
increased abundance. The leaves are not injured by mildews, and tlie fruit seldom troub- 
led bv the black rot, or by insects. 

FIGS. 

Among the varied products of the Southern orchard, none offers greater possibilities 
to the grower than the tig, which, although a semi-tropical fruit, is a sure crop in the 
southern half of the Delta. The tree grows rapidly, beginning to yield a crop in the third 
year from planting, is long-lived and has no insect enemies. It is propagated readily by 
offshoots from the parent tree, and having the peculiarity of fruiting on the wood of the 
same year, is not affected by late frosts as are other fruit trees. The bearing season is of 
long duration and tlje yield is enormous. Fruit in all stages of growth is seen on the trees 
at tlie same time. The fig cannot be shipped in a fresii state, but the demand for it when 
canned or preserved is immense, and has led canneries to give very high prices for it, rang- 
ing from 3 to 5 cents per pound, or from $2.40 to $4 per bushel. When it is considered that 
aged trees have been known to yield a peck a day for weeks at a time, the profit, even at 
the lowest figures named, will be seen to be large. 

STRA WBERRIES. 

This is a fruit that has never been cultivated for profit in the Delta, but is said to 
do well on the lighter soils, near the streams. Remarkably fine berries are grown near 
Vicksburg, but so far not in sufficient <|Uantity to supply the local demand. It is not unu- 
sual to have a second crop in the fall, and these berries are of fine quality. 



TOMATOES. 




The tomato crop of Mississippi is 
a very respectable feature of tlie State's 
horticulture, and the annual shipments 
are increasing. Truck-growing being 
in its infancy in the Delta, this crop has 
never been grown to supply the ship- 
ping demand. In common with all 
other garden products, however, toma- 
toes are unusually productive in this 
fertile section, and a yield is obtained 
without the use of fertilizers that wouM 
be considered prodigious in ordinary 
soils under the most favorable circum- 
stances. From .June until Septendier 
they are bought daily in Vicksburg by 
the basket and the liushel full, but are 
never so plentiful that they do not fetch 
fair prices, 



60 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 




PECANS. 

The native nut tree of the 
Delta is the pecan, whicli is 
to be found everywhere and 
in many localities constitutes 
an important portion of the 
forest. Its nuts are a valualde 
food for swine, and for many 
years no other use was made 
of tlie nut, except that siliall 
quantities were gathered for 
home consumption. Of late 
years they have been gathered 
and sent to market by thous- 
ands of barrels in a single sea- 
son. The native variety, though 
of fine flavor and having conse- 
quently a good market value, 
is small and less profitable 
than the large Texas pecans. These have been introduced many years ago and are per- 
fectly at home in this climate. They are more productive than the common variety. 
Within the past decade some land owners in the Delta have set out large plantations of 
the Texas pecan, which are doing well and will come into bearing in a few years. Mr. (). 
S. Robins is one of these growers and his grove, many acres in extent, is in .Sharkey county, 
near Anguilla on the Valley route. In Madison parisli. La., Mr. Sam James has several 
hundred acres in Texas pecan trees, and will liavc a prodigi(nis income from tliem when 
the trees come into bearing. This is a matter of considerable time, from seven to ten 
years, but for several years the land may be culrivated in other crops, or the trees being 
set at a good distance, may be used as a pasture. When once established a grove will in- 
crease in productiveness annually and should continue so for generations, the trees being 
of remarkable longevity. 

IRISH POTATOES. 

In its endeavor to secure the diversification of agriculture in the Delta the Illinois 
Central system has been especially successful with respect to Irish potatoes. The princi- 
pal seat of the industry at present is Coahoma county, where a very large acreage was 
planted this season. The crop was abundant throughout the Delta and brought good re- 
turns. The total shipments were something over one hundred tliou.-and barrels, of which 
the greater part came from Coahoma and IJolivar counties. One grower in the former 
county sold his crop of three hundred acres at a net profit of ten dollars per acre, as he did 
also in 1.S94. Potatoes thrive in all portions of the Delta, in fact in any part of the State, 
or of North Louisiana. (Ine of the largest growers in the South resides in Madison parish. 
La., almost in sight of Vicksburg. His annual crop is about five thousand l>arrels and he 
always makes a crop of corn on the same land, after the potatoes are gathered. The yield 
ranges from one hundred and fifty to two hundred bushels per acre and is often in excess 
of the latter figures. 

SWEET POTATOES. 



One of the most valualile crops in the South, whether for shi| 
tion or as a food for stock of all kinds, but especially hogs, is the sw 
berless varieties. !Many of these are known as yams, but any botanis 
that the yam is not grown in tlie ITnited States, nor is it a desiraldc 
son with the sweet potato. The plant is jiropagated by means of si 
potatoes. Later in the season cuttings are iilauted, also with good 
simple and inexjiensive and tlie yield enormous, from tliree hundrt 
els to the acre. There are, as jireviously stated, many varieties-, soi 
tiveness, others in sweetness and flavor. It is a curious fact that tl 
in the North, a dry or mealy variety, is not at all liked by most S 
a soft, sugary potato. There are early and late varieties, some 
others in October. None are shipped to markets in the North. 

The possibilities of tlie sweet i)otato as a food for stock are S( 
here. Six hundred bushels would weigh eighteen tons and re])resi 
for their weight than perhaps any root crop grown. Hogs thrive o 
excellent pork at very small cost ; cattle and horses also apprecia 



imenf, home consump- 

eet potato in its nuHi- 

t knows or should know 

egetable by comjiari- 

ijis or sprouts from the 

resvills ; the culture is 

•d to six liunilreci bush- 

_ excelling in produc- 

le potato most api>roved 

iiutlierners, who prefer 

maturing in .luly and 

■arcely fully recognized 
■nt more nutritive value 
n them and they make 
te them highlv and in 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



61 




iiuuiv jiortions of the State are fed to some extent on tliem. Tlie faet that they may be 
left in tlie soil with perfect safety from frost until Christmas is a great advantage in feed- 
ing tliem to hogs, as it saves all tlie troulile and expense of harvesting. Persons who have 
experimented with tliis manner of feeding say that better results are obtained than it the 
eroj) is gathered and fed to the animals. 

STOCK BREEDING. 

The kindred branehes of horse and cattle breeding, dairying, 
slieep-liusliandry and liog raising, whieii really merit description 
b}' ex\ierts, will be ]iresented here from the standpoint of an 
observer acquainted with the results achieved but not, except 
in the most general manner, with the methods adopted. These 
pursuits have always had their followers in Mississippi as adjuncts 
to the general business of farming, ))ut not until late years has 
any one of them been adopted as a specialty by breeders. Being 
greatly addicted to horsemanship, the people of Mississippi at 
an early day introduced the American thoroughbred, but the 
native stock of horses showed comparatively few signs of admix- 
ture with this strain and until within a few years Warren county 
— and the same may be said of the Delta and of north Louisiana — 
paid little attention to either horse or mule breeding. The pres- 
sure of declining prices for cotton, however, finally turned the 
scale. Planters found, as the result of many experiments, that a 
promising colt couhl be reared at little more expense than an ox, 
excellent sires were introduced and lilierally patronized, brood 
mares were purchased and at present few plantations are without 
tlieir quota of well-bred, stylish-looking horses, native to the soil, 
while native mules are also numerous. Such pursuits are im- 
mensely favored by the abundant and almijst perennial supply of 
native grasses. Cane grows everywhere, in the lowlands in dense 
brakes, in the uplands on nearly every wooded hill-side or creek- 
bottom, and aflbrds a rich pasture all winter long. 

The pasturage in winter may be increased in value by the cultivation of rye, which 
is scarcely afiected by the coldest weather, and of several winter grasses. The dreary sea- 
son is of such brief duration in this latitude, however, that the laziest cultivator may pro- 
vide himself with an aliundance of dry forage to meet its exigencies. The first mild days 
in JIarch suffice to start the herbage in any [lasture — Bermuda grass, white clover and les- 
pedeza — and a late fr(jst rarely checks its growth for more than a few days. A Bermuda 
grass pasture will probably feed more cattle to the acre than any other in the world. Stim- 
ulated by a Southern sun, it sends up its spears by myriads, in rapid succession. Meadows 
of this grass are mowed several times in a season. 

Cattle, in the presence of such pasturage, are generally left to make their own living 
on the range and attain early maturity and good size under such lack of care. Large num- 
bers of cattle, however, are liow fattened for the Northern market, generally near the larger 
towns and in the vicinity of cotton seed oil mills, whose products are their principal 
ration. It has been found that cotton seed meal and hulls with some additional rough 
forage, produce very superior beef and in a short space of time. In this manner thousands 
of cattle are fattened annually near Vicksburg, to say nothing of other towns, and still 
more will be fattened the coming season. These beeves are bought off the range, at low 
prices, and herded on pastures near the city. 

It is said that no pursuit introduced within the past quarter century has made 
greater strides in Mississippi than that of dairying. Native butter-makers now supply a 
large part of the city demand, furnishing butter of very superior quality, for which they 
obtain remunerative prices, usually from twenty-five to thirty cents per pound. A success- 
ful dairyman in this county markets from sixty" to seventy-five pounds of butter weekly at 
these figures and is credited with paying all the expenses of his considerable farm in this 
manner and with the aid of his gai'den. The introduction of Jersey and other fine dairy 
cattle, now of many years standing, has vastly improved the dairy stock of the State. 
Grade Jerseys and Holsteins are to be found everywhere. The Delta has some fine rejire- 
sentatives of the Jersey family, but Warren county has one of the largest herds in the 
South— that of Dr. W.'E. Gates— which is known to breeders all over the United .States, 
being of the bluest-blooded ancestry. Here, as elsewhere, the Jersey is the queen of but- 
ter cows, and crosses with the native stock, itself not without merit, are very superior 
milkers. 

Sheep husbandry in this section is confined to small flocks, chiefly raised for mut- 
ton. Southdown blood, introduced under the old planter's regime, may be detected in 



62 



PiCtURESQUE ViCKSErRG. 



the majority of sheep broilght to a Vicksburg market. They are small in size, but the 
mutton is of very superior Havor anil is liighly esteemed by epicures. It has been sug- 
f;estecl tliat s)irint.' hinilis niitrlit be raised witli jiriptit tor the Northern market, but nosliip- 
ments are rejiorted. Tlie local deniami is large and growers say protitable. Tlie wool 
clip is of no considerable proportions, little attention liaving been given to this branch of 
tlie industry. Sheep owners agree in stating tliat there is money in the business. 

A country where hogs can pick a good living the year round on the range is certainly 
one that should abound in swine. This is certainly the case in the Delta, and tliis wood- 
land meat is especially toothsome, being juicy and of a true gamy Havor. In the olden 
time, few planters failed to cure an abundant supply of liacon, for use on their plantations, 
and Snutliern hams are well known to epicures in this latitude. The high price of cotton 
imme<iiately after the war and tlie jiredatory habits of tlie negro, discouraged tlie jiroduc- 
ti<in of pork, but a wonderful change has heen wrought by the low prices obtidned for 
cotton of late years, ami observers report more hogs in the country at present than at any 
time since the war. The increased attention paid to the corn crop is partly respuiisihle 
for this change, but it has been a theory of planters for many years that this country can 
produce jjork more cheaply than the West, and they have had every motive to try the 
experiment. 

It is a fact that excellent pork can be produced by feeding corn for a few weeks to 
hogs that have made all their growth without costing their owners a penny, and this is 
especially the case in the Delta, where mast and succulent herbs and grasses are very 
abundant. Dealers report a steady dei'rease in their sales of Western meats, and large 
quantities of liogs are now marketed in the towns. The abundant corn crop of the pres- 
ent year (1895) is expected to produce a surplus for shipment. In any event there are few 
among even the negroes in the Delta, wlio are not fattening hogs for next year's food sup- 
ply. Hog raisers in tliis latitude have several great advantages over their Western com- 
petitors. The winters are so mild that less food is required, there is good pasture nine 
months in the year, and what w ith field peas, potatoes and other cheap food crops, the 
Soutliern grower can put a fat hog on the market at a little more than a third of the out- 
lay that a Xorthern piirker would rejiresent. 

That a great future lies before the Delta in all the foregoing pursuits no one will 
question, who will acquaint himself with the facts, and weigh them justly and without 
prejudice. 





MORE ABOUT 
THE DELTA 



CHAPTER VI. 



One of the first and most important of all questions, to the settler, is the price of 
land. 

" Can it 1)0 bought so cheap ? " he asks. 

AVe would reply, perhaps the most strikinj; advantage of the Delta, and the same 
may be said of the whole of jMississippi, is in its cheap lands. The shrinkage in the value 
of lands in the South, Ijy reason of the war and its correlative, the abolition of slavery, is 
past computation ; and yet their productive power, their intrinsic value remains the same. 
There are lands for sale in Jlississippi ready for the iilow, in vast area — thousands — mill- 
ions of acres, that can be had for one-fifth to tenth their value before the war. 

In the Yazoo Delta there are hundreds of thousands of acres of fine wood laud, abso- 
lutely undesecrated even by the superficial tillage of the South — virgin soils the ricliest in 
the world. These can be had at merely nonnnal prices and await the thrift of the new 
husbandry to be inaugurated with all and more than the cheapness of a new and unsettled 
country, "with all the advantages of climate and tliicker population, and the other inci- 
dents of civilization in schools and churches, railroads, a settled state of society, low 
taxes, competing modes of transportation, etc. 

Yes ! Land is cheap and can be bought in the Delta or AVarren county, to-day, for 
a song, looking at what it produces and the return it will pay on the investment. But 
wait a little while. A few years hence there will be no such bargains, or else signs utterly 
fail. 

Good improved land, convenient to schools, churches and railroads, can now be pur- 
chased for from $10 to $1.5 per acre, while wild lands with more or less tiud)er on them, 
may be had at half these prices. The greater number of farms now on the market are the 
result of dividing up the large plantations, and as few of the present owners wish to leave 
their homes, a number of the farms for sale may have but few good buildings or improve- 
ments beyond their fences. As a rule though, tracts of 100 acres for sale — if it is improved 
land at all— usually have cabins for laborers, and one good dwelling house and other out- 
buildings, gardens and orchards. Such lands as these convenient to a town or settlement 
and railroad, command anywhere from $S to $20 per acre, and at such figures " cheap " is 
scarcely the word for them. 

To use an old argument — is not an acre of land in Mississippi, that will produce all 
and much more tlian an acre in Illinois, Ohio, or New York, with products as valuable, 
and yet which sells for the above pitia\)le figures, worth quite as much for production as 
an acre that sells from thirty to one hundred and fifty dollars per acre ? The enhance- 
ment in the value of land— its selling price— is only a question of time. Has not diversi- 
fied farming, market gardening, stock raising in all its branches, and dairying, proven not 
only practicable, biit profitable and easy, in all jiarts of Mississippi. The immeasurable 
benefit of multifarious industries is the ])"romise of the future. These are some of the ben- 
efits that make our lands in reality more valuable than before the war. If they were worth 



u 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



then from thirty to one hundred dollars an acre, they are worth twice as mucli now. We 
repeat, they only sell from $5 to S15 an acre now ; but wait ten years! 

Professor Hilliard, whose work, called "The New South," we have referred to. in his 
chapter on Jlississppi, writes : 

" The productive power of the land is incredible ; and no greater anomaly marks 
Southern affairs than the prices at which lands rent and the value of their product, as 
compared with the prices at which they can be bought. The value of lands per acre in 
Mississippi, as compared wdth the value of products per acre, according to the returns of 
the census, aflVird an interesting study. It often happens that lands that rent from §.) to 
$10 per acre, and yield products in value from $15 to if40 per acre, are rated in the market 
as low as SIO to S2.5 per acre." 

As to taxes they are a mere hagatelle. Lands are generally assessed very low, proba- 
bly on an average of five dollars an acre at most — that is farm lands. A man with a very 
small farm in the Middle States and New England, pays far more than one in the Soutii 
with a thousand acres of good land. 

It must finally be remembered by all thinking of Viuying lands in the Delta, that the 
impairment in prices of Southern lands, is not an impairment in value, ('limate is left. 
Conditions more favoralde to the happiness, thrift, and influence of the white farmer, ob- 
tain now than when lands were from five to ten times as high in price. Railroails — the 
Illinois Central, with its numerous branches, and the Georgia Pacific, plough their way in 
every direction, ami add their great influence to a true enhancement of values. 

Immigration is fast coming in, and lastly, the foolish notion that white men cannot 
stand the climate of Mississippi, is abundantly disproved liy the numerous families that 
have lately come here from other parts of the Union, and who could not be induced to 
return to the lands thev have vacated. 



COST OF LIVING. 



But there are other aspects than cheap lands, that weigh in favor of the South 
against the North. One of the most conspicuous is climate. We have shown that it means 
a prolific and wide range of crops — it also means a saving of fuel, clothing and fooil to man 
and beast. It must be olivious when the climate is mild all the year amund, it does away 
iargelv with two verv expensive items of living — viz : meat and fuel. These are the large 
elements of the cost of the North and indispensible there. The mildness of the climate in 
Mississippi gives the opportunity to draw largely for the support of life, as well as 
for monev-niaking, upon the winter garden. Lettuce and radishes can be planted at all 
times. Cabbage and turnios planteil in the fall grow through the winter. So, through 
the list. 

The ground from which the crops of cotton, corn, oats, wheat, rye, barley, etc., are 
taken is available for turnips, cabbages, carrots— what you will, and chickens can be 

hatched in the fall. Your ewes can be 
made to lamb in November, and your 
cows can be made to come in when you 
please in the winter. 

In clothing, the aggregate of cost 
saved by the resident in Mississippi, as 
compared with the resident in the 
North is considerable. The increased 
quantity of wool in the goods worn 
North, of necessity, counts very heav- 
ily in money's worth as compared with 
that worn in the neighborhood of 
Vicksburg. Less bed-clothing is neces- 
sary too. Lap blankets and such like 
are" a trifling expense. Indeed, there 
are thoiisandsof persons in Jlississippi 
who, for instance, never saw a buffalo 
robe—much less used one. Then again, 
blankets for horses are very rare. 

These matters seem to be trivial, 
but aggregate them, and the cust will 
be found to be very considerable. In- 
deed, there is a germ of industrial rev- 
olution in the thought that tliere is not 
the ratio of consumption South to the 




S:'^ ^Ikrjniirr-J. 



PICTrnEPQt^E VICKSBURG. 



65 



ratio of production North and AVest. LooIj liow mucli of tlie wool, pork, bay, corn, 
wlieat, etc., the Northern man produces, which he and his stock must consume. If he 
lived in ilississippi, in winter lie and Ins stock would not only consume very little of 
these, but he would be producing at the very period the Western man is consuming. 

The cost of building in Mississippi is much less than in the North. The climate is 

so warm that douVde floors 
and walls are not needed, 
and lumber can be had at 
moderate prices all over 
the State. Ordinary rough 
building and framing lum- 
ber in Vicksburg, costs SIO 
to S15 per l.OOtVfeet at all 
mills, and in the Delta, 
there is scarcely a location 
wdiere a mill cannot be 
found within a distance of 
anyway ten miles. Dressed 
lumber, that is native yel- 
low pine and cottonwood, 
can be bad at any railway 
station for from $10 to !?2b 
per 1,000 feet. Ordinary 
carpenters and bricklayers 
cost from $2 to $3.50 per 
day, and very comfortable 
houses can be erected for 
from $800 upwards. Mr. 
W. Stanton, who has had 
twenty-seven years experi- 
ence in architecture and 
building in all parts of the 
State, puts the average cost 
of good two story frame 
■liouse of five rooms in the 
city, with all modern im- 
provements, at from $1,000 
to' $2,500; and a ten room 
house from $3,000 to $8,000. 
Comfortable two roomed 
cottages can be built at a 
cost of from $100 to $150. 

Barns and sheds for stock 
are correspondingly inex- 
pensive, as they do not 
need to be built for a pro- 
tection from cold, but 
merely to shelter the stock 
and feed from wind and 
rain. Good fences can be 
built at a cost of not more 
than $100 per mile. 




An O.^k Tkee on the Road to Ukuwuuu. 



TRANSPORTATION FOR IMMIGRANTS. 



Every railroad entering Mississippi is doing everything in its power to assist settlers 
to find satisfactory localities, and to reach them at the least jDossible cost. The Illinois 
Central which has vast interests centered in the Delta, recognize the f/ict tliat it will 
derive a greater final profit bv filling up the country with industrious and productive farm- 
ers and manufacturers, than by charging high rates to the incoming settlers, and so trans- 
portation rates for both immigrants and their goods have been fixed at the lowest possible 
figures. 

Goods may be shipped from St. Louis or Louisville, or Cairo, to nearly any part of 
the Delta for $50 per car load and corresponding low rates are made from other Northern 
points. (See Appendix for tal.>le of distances and rates of transportation.) As this rate 
includes transportation for one man to care for the stock, if any, the expense of moving is 
certainly very low. The railroads recognize the fact, that a person before settling in any 



GG 



PICTTTRESQUE VICKSBURG. 



new country, desires an opportunitj- to look over tlie land — to investigate it for himself, 
that lie may determine its worth. To foster and encourage this they have arranged fre- 
quent excursions at very low rates, which enables the home-seeker to spend a month in 
becoming acquainted with the opportunities oflfered l)y different localities, and in picking 
out the place he thinks will make the most desirable home. 

As a car load contains -4,000 pounds, and its transportation costs only $50, the cost 
per |)ouMd for the goods brought is U'ss than one-fiftli of a cent. In other words, goods 
tliat are worth 20 cents per 100 jiounds, are wortli l)ringing. One liuudred dollars will 
tran^^port an ordinary family and its household goods from h-t. Louis or Cincinnati to any 
town in the Yazoo Delta. 

SOME SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 

There is one point not usually noted, yet which comes with convincing evidence that 
the people at home are beginning to recognize the productive value of the land outside of 
cotton, and it is that one-half the merchants in town have a direct interest in some farm 
or another--an interest acquired in most cases by purchase and not by the foreclosing of 
any lien or mortgage. A few years ago this same merchant would have as soon jiut his 
money into the Mississippi river, as into land, to-day, as more than a side issue, he is turn- 
ing his attention to general farming — planting orchards, planting new crops, and demon- 
strating liy practical example the truth of his arguments to the planter, that other things 
beside cotton will pay. 

To our knowledge, there are a dozen merchants in Vicksburg, who in addition to 
their other business, own farms either in the Delta or the foothills, and farms, mind you, 
that pay. 

A few days ago, the writer had the pleasure of visiting the farm of Bazsinsky Bros., 
about three miles from this city, near tlie Hall's Ferry road, purchased less tlum five 
years ago, as Mr. Bazsinsky explained, as a sort of experiment, for a low sum ; then with- 
out fences, run wild, only a small part under cultivation — now all under the plow and as 
pretty and picturesque a place as could well be found. We saw white Tennessee corn 








Roustabouts Unlo.\ding Steamek at Lake Providence Landing. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



67 




Early Morning in a Delta Village 



there, the stalks sixteen and eighteen feet liigh, tliat would yield a hundred Inisliels to the 
acre. Between, the rows cow-peas are planted, the pods of which appeared to be so 
thick it would almost be impossible to estimate the quantity growing. AVithin the r.adius 
of a hundred yards, we were shown an orchard containing several choice varieties of 
peaches, apples, plums, grapes and figs, cultivated bhu^kberries, a field of oats, Irish pota- 
toes, sweet potatoes, sweet corn, tomatoes and other vegetables. 

In one little plot of ground less than an acre, Mr. Bazsinsky told us they had this sea- 
son raised a crop of early potatoes which sold for S10.5, not counting what they used them- 
selves. This piece of ground when we saw it, was planted in sweet potatoes, whitdi were 
expected to give 250 bushels to the acre. These will be dug in October, turnips next 
planted and pulled in February, ready for anotlier crop of Irish potatoes to go in. On the 
same farm we observed a great number of native hogs, some fine milking cows, and chick- 
ens and noultrv galore, all in the verv pink of condition. AVhat more could a farmer ask 
than that? 

Other gentlemen who combine a business in town with the delights of a mountain 
farm are the Smith Bros., who a year ago set out an orchard of 2,500 young trees, com- 
prising the choicest imported varieties of peaches, plums and apples, all of which appear 
to be doing well. A walk over the farm of 420 acres on the Warrenton rnad, would con- 
vince the most skeptical that the possibilities of successful farming and hog raising in this 
section are very great. 

Let a country lie prosperous or otherwise, no matter in wdiat quarter of the globe it 
may be, the inhabitants carry it in their faces. Poverty, the gloom of despair— prosperity, 
the cheerfulness of hope. So it is with us here. A stranger arriving in any part of Mis- 
sissippi, is at once struck with the hale and hearty tone that pervades among all classes 
of the people. Let it be a farmer he meets, and he will tell him of the abundance of his 
crops— the quality of his stock, the improvements he is making on his place, and how he 
expects to do better next year than this. 

In the neighborhood of Vicksburg are to be found many representative planters and 
farmers, whose well tilled land, and generously stocked orchards, are live examples of 
what can be accomplished by careful management and moderate means. Among other 
prominent planters deserving of mention, none stand higher in their respective lineq 



68 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



than Col. F. L. Maxwell, of Madison Parish, La. He is a very large land-holder, 
but his home place is almost within sight of Vicksburg. A Northern man by birth 
and education, the parish whicli he entered since the war to make his home, contains no 
more popular citizen. His brilliant record as the President of the Fifth District Levee 
Commissioners, will be remembered with appreciation by generations yet unborn. Col. 
Maxwell's plantation would be considered a model in any country of a farm on a large 
scale. He produces a large crop of cotton, but all his crops are large. His shii)ments of 
Irish potatoes average .5,000 bbls. annually. He also ships the produce of many acres of cab- 
bages. Chicago dealers visit his plantation to purciiase fat cattle, his corn crop is suffi- 
cient and to spare for all his stock, lie successfully rears mules and horses, and bis mutton 
is famous among epicures. Col. Maxwell's extensive plantation is strung with telephone 
wires, immensely facilitating its management, has a system of waterworks also, for the 
better care of his stock, and is a largely paying property. 

Another gentleman deserving comment is O. S. Kobliins, noted for having one of the 
largest pecan and peach orchards in the country ; and Dr. W. E. Gates, known all over 
the United States for his fine herd of Jersevs. 

As tlie opportunities and possil)ilities of stock raising and dairying in this section 
are not fully appreciated, it will not be out of jjlace here to give Dr. Gates' exp 



in his own words, under the heading of 



cperience. 



Pi!.\cTKAi. Results of Seventeen Years ok Stock Raising and Butter Dairying, in Warren 

County, Missi.ssirri. 

" Mistrustful of the ability of the Southern cotton planter to escape the impending 
financial ruin, the all cotton system of agriculture was blindly and hopelessly leading him 
to, seventeen years ago the writer pinned his faith to the little meek-eyed Jersey cow, 
amid the frowns and protestations of friends, and caustic criticisms of neighbors, such as 
' fool and bis money is soon parted,' etc. 

The resulting pleasure and profit from this truly fascinating enterprise, can be but 




Four O'clock Tea on tue ^Mulholland Line. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



69 




Refuge Landing. 



briefly alluded to in this short space allotted to an article of this nature in a publication 
dealing in generalities. Hence but a few of the main facts succinctly stated, may lie of but 
passing interest to the reader. 

During the winter of 1.S78, the foundation of the Beechwood herd of thoroughbred 
Jersey cattle was laid. After familiarizing himself with the strains, pedigrees and Island 
history of the Jersey cattle then in the United States, the footsteps of tlie writer were 
guided liy the goddess of fortune to Ewel Station, Tenn., the splendid farm of my lamented 
friend, Maj. Campbell Brown, from whose grand herd the following heifers were selected, 
namely : Komp Ogden 2d, Xo. 47H4 ; Sunny South, 6S30 ; Busy Bee, Holjti, and Yariella, ()337. 
These have proved worthy matrons, whose produce emulated their grand breeding at the 
pail and churn, long since made famous in the annals of Jersey litei'ature ; and whose win- 
some, deer-like forms and distended udders loosed many a visitor's sordid purse strings 
and carried his head and heart by storm. 

Except one imported cow, bought of John T. Hardy, of New Orleans, La., for $7.")0, 
in lSSr>, no other purchases have been added to the herd, except an occasional bull, as an 
out crop. Since its foundation in 1S78, 17.i bulls, cows and heifers have been ,><old from the 
herd for $ob,S~b. To rob these figures of incredulitv, it should be Ijorne in mind that one 
of these bulls sold for $2,.50O to F. C. Sales, Pawtucket, R. I.; another to Mr.s. Eliza M. 
Jones, of Brockville, Ontario, for |800, and a bull calf before he saw the light of day, to 
John Scannal, of Haughton, Bossier Parish, La., for $700. 

The herd now consists of fifty animals, all told, and offers nothing for sale except 
one bull, a contradiction of the prophecy often reiterated, that tlie bottom must soon drop 
out. The demands on this herd in tlie past to replenish some and found others, has been 
so great as to alisorb all offerings at satisfactory prices as shown by foregoing figures. 

Recognizing the prime importance of a partner in the business and as well to provide 
pocket money for an impecuneous wife, the latter was promised the proceeds of the ilairy, 
the income of which for the last 13 years prior to '1)4 and '9.5, has been a gross turn out of 
•5,200 pounds of butter per annum sold in the Vicksburg market at an average through the 
year of :i7.> cents per pound, amounting in the lo years to $25,.350. Since the decline in 
agricultural products during the past two years, this butter has sold at a uniform jjrice of 
3.5 cents per pound ; the gross proceeds of sales for these two years being ?3,(140. 

Deducting the annual average feed and labor liills of $87.5, we have for fifteen years 
a net income of $15,865. To the junior partner, mostly, and the introduction of a centri- 
frugal cream separator, as auxiliary, the dairy feature is wholly dependent for its great sue- 



70 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



cess. In fact, no dairy in the South can turn out a first class article of creamery butter 
without one of these machines. The double advantage to be had in tlie centrifugal method 
consists first in the production of a superior article of cream, deprived entirely of animal 
and stable oders to which milk is so susceptible, and in the second place the milk can be 
fed warm and sweet to the calves, as the milk is run through the macliine as fast as drawn 
from the udder. 

The public mind needs to be disabused of tlie erroneous but fixed idea that the Jer- 
sey cow is so inherently delicate, as to require the same tender, watcliful care, as an infant 
in its swaddling clothes ; and while this may be applied with full meaning to the unaccli- 
mated cow, the writer asserts without the fear of contradiction, that taking as a compari- 
son the same number of cattle of any other breed as liave been handled in this lierd dur- 
ing the seventeen years of its fruitful existence, the inortality in tlie latter would sliow 
less. The fact is, these cattle receive no more care tlian humanity would Ijestow on tlie 
scrub cow of the impecunious cotton planter, who not only fails to provide shelter from 
the winter's rain for 'old sukey', but actually fences her out of the shelter of his gin 
house. Poor ' old sukey ' adorns the fence corner of many Southern plantations, the 
living accusation of man's inliumanity. 

Another error born of prejudice, is, that tlie Jersey cow is diminutive in size, witli 
udder development similar to the goat, reasoning on the basis that because her milk is 
richer than that of any other breed, the flow must necessarily be smaller. Contro- 
verting this theory, it is only necessary to state, Jersey cows in the Beechwood herd have 
given as much as 57 pounds of milk daily, and as regards size, many have tipped the beam 
at 1,000 pounds. 

Of recent years a few trotting horses have been added as an adjunct, and while the 
enterprise is yet in its infancy, sutticient progress has been made to justify the hope of 
ultimate success. This hope seems justified by the high rate of speed attained by one of 
the fillies that now- ornaments tlie Kentucky turf, beside the fact, that the farm has now 
two fillies showing a 2:30 clip, and several youngsters that promise to trot fast. 

Nature has lavishly bestowed all of the necessary elements requisite to make this 
one of the greatest stock growing countries on this continent, if we except one sad defi- 
ciency, and that is, a want of progressive citizens. Let no man longer halt on account of 
his unbelief, but come forward and have the mill stone taken off of his neck." 





ATTRAeTIONS 



CHiLPTER VII. 



" Throw up the window! 'Tis a morn for life 
In its most sul'tic luxury. The ;iir 
Is like :i brciithitifj from a rarer world 
And the south wind is like a jjentle friend." 

These lines aptly describe an early morninj; in Mississippi, wliere bright days are 
the rule, and showery days are niartied by transcendent beauties of earth and sky, fleeting 
wonders of form and color. Let tlie morning open with a murky zenith, dark clouds dropi)ing 
showers, and as the invisible sun mounts, he peeps unexpectedly through a rift to see 
that his world is safe, then vanishes. The sky has an unrelenting aspect. The timber 
land in the distance is obscured. Suddenly, far to the left, a rift breaks dazzling white, 
just short of where the rain is falling on the fields in a long, bending column, and at one 
side a broad patch pales into mottled gray. 

The face of earth, washed newly, "is a patchwork of somber and gaudy transparent 
colors; yellows, greens, sepias, grays. One's range and clearness of vision are quickly 
expanded, as when a telescope is fitted to the eye. Now begins a wonderful shifting of 
light and shadow, peeps through a curtain tliat veils unbearable splendors of ujjpersky; 
gradual dissolutions of cloud into curls and twists and splashes, with filling of blue 
between. Again the sun ajipears, at first with a pale burnished liglit, flashing and fading 
irresolutely until at length it flames out with summer ardor. The clouds break into still 
more curious forms, into pictures and images of quaint device, and outside the wide 
circle of Virilliant sunlight all the hills are in purple shadow fading into stcel-bhie, and 
about their crests cling wisps of many colored fleece. Here and tlierc the wliite of a 
planter's house, looms up subtly behind" an intervening shower— a thin, transparent bank 
of smoky hue. The veil quickly <lissipates, but almost immediately, the rain-mist advances 
and hides the whole from view — tlie entire heavens are overcast. 

" I.ike a gentle joy descending 
To the earth a glory leniling 

Comes the pleasant rain." 

A strip of green next flashes on the sight— a distant cotton field lighted bv the sun, but 
lying unaccountably beneath a cloud of blac'k. Beyond, the broad foot of a rain-liow 
winks and diappears, as if a brief intimation of its presence was all that was necessary. 
By noon the sun is again shining, and this is the way it rains in Mississippi. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



atthactwxs Foii tiik toljust. 



They call this season winter. Winter indeed ! One accustomed to live in the North, 
could not possibly avoid the temptation to lie satirical. The temperature is so finely bal- 
anced one does not easily deciile whether to walk on the sunny or tlie shady side of the 
street. It is cool, not cold, not liracing in the ordinary sense, but just the proper temper- 
ature for continuous out-of-door life. June does not define it — nor September. It has no 
synonym. But if you cared to add one more to the many unsuccessful attempts to define 
it in a phrase, you mis^ht term it constant, delicious weather. But even here, man is 
a clothes-wearing animal. There is a breeze pervading the most brilliant sunshine. 
Remembering this, the most apprehensive person will soon discover that there is no men- 
ace in the gently invigorating air of the Mississippi winter. It wins the invalid to health 
by enticing him to remain out of doors. 

In tlie autumn, you may sit upon any veranda, and lift your eyes frotn the brilliant 
green of ornamental trees and shrubs, from orchards where late fruits ripen in heavy 
clusters, and from the variegate<l bloom of gardens to waving fields of pastures — to cot- 
ton fields, where the singing darkey is still at work, trailing his bag behind him. The 
smallest of these communities is great in content. Literally couched beneath his own 
vine and fig tree, plucking from friendly boughs, delicious fruits, finding in the multifa- 
rious products of the soil nearly everything needful in domestic economy, and free from 
most of tlie ills tliat flesh was thouglit to be heir to, what wonder that the Mississippian 
envys no man — nor looks wistfully eastward ornortliward, towards the crowded cities or the 
precarious famine-beset regions of the prairie .'^tates. Here is an uplifting environment for 
a home, truly fit to breed a race worthy of the nulilest empire under the sun. Here it is 
indeed a poor boy or girl who has not a pony on which to scamper about — or lacks liberty 

for such enjoyment. And every year, there comes a period of 
holiday, an interval when there is no plowing or harvesting to 
be done — a recuperating spell of nature, when the weather is 
just as glorious as ever, and the laughing rivers beckon se- 
ductively to the poet that is in the heart of every unhar- 
rassed man and woman and child. Then the timbered lakes, 
and the shady nooks, and the grassy l)Owers, are dotted with 
tents, where the ice cold leaping little rivulet foams, and 
sjireading ash and oak are festooned with drooping moss, and 
wild honeysuckle — when the trout of the stream, and tlie game 
of the forest have then their solstice of woe. When the camp- 
ers return to store and field, it is not by reason of any inclem- 
ency of the weather, but because their term of holiday has 
expired. 

Here indeed, should come the tourists, and pale fugitives 
from the buffets of Boreas, where they may wander happily 
over hillside and lowland in a country unvexed by the tyr- 
anny of seasons. 

To the invalid we say— visit this most seductive of States, 
and see liow tenacious will he its hold on you. You have done 
but little, and a day has fled, have idled, walked, ridden, read 
a little, have seen two or three of the thousand things to be 
seen, and a week, a month is gone. You could grieve that 
such golden, boundless hours should ever go into the past, did 
they not flow from an inexhaustible fount. For to be out all day 
in the careless freedom of perfect weather, to ramble over ruins 
of a former occupation, to wander by cotton flelds and through 
gardens and orchards ; to sketch some of the quaint old ante-bellum characters that make 
picturesque and interesting the dustiest road ; to listen to old time stories of the war, full 
of heroism and pathos; to fish, to shoot, to gather flowers from the blossoming forest ; to 
explore a hundred fascinating retreats of hillside and valley ; to lounge on the soft grass 
under the shade of the magnolia tree until the sun drops below the horizon ; all this is 
permitted to the tourist and invalid, who will visit Vicksburg, be it winter or summer. 




A Colored Sport. 



SPORTiyO A TTRACTIOXS. 



To say that the country around Vicksburg is also a sportsman's paradise is in no 
respect an exaggeration. The "flelds abound in quail ; snijie and woodcock are also plenti- 
ful in season, and the lakes and streams are as notalde fur ducks, geese, and other water 
fowl in the winter, as for the abumlance and cjuality of tlieir fish. Good sliots d<i not con- 
sider it a great feat to l)ring a hundred to bag in a day's outing. The wild turkey, the 
noblest of American game birds, finds abundant food and safe hiding places in the cane 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



73 



brakes of the low lands, and while the wariness of this bird makes liim the prize of 
hunters equally cunning in wood-craft, and scarcely attainable l)y the novice, except in 
case of rare good luck, "those who love sport for sport's sake, will not count the hours 
wasted that finally repay the liunter with such royal spoil. 

Deer and bear also frequent tlie bottoms in "the Delta and in North Louisiana, regions 
equally accessible from Vicksburg, and being numerous, are to be found with less trouble 
than in other parts of the country. The American lion, here known as the pantlier, is 
rarely liunted, unless it takes to killing young cattle or hogs, as sometimes happens, but 
hunters who desire the element of danger in their sport, will have little difficulty in grati- 
fying it at its expense, for tliough ordinarily timid, it has been known to attack man vol- 
untarily, and when once brought to bay by the dogs it is full of figlit. The black bear is 
nothing like so pugnacious, yet instances have occurred in which the hunter became the 
prey of his quarry, and though not so formidable an animal as the grizzly of the Kocky 
Mountains, a six hundred pounder, and larger ones are often killed, is a very respectable 
bag. One of the largest sent to Vicksburg last winter, was killed witliin thirty miles of 
the city, by rail. In fact, it may be seriously doubted whether any city of 20,000 inhabit- 
ants on the American Continent has as fine hunting grounds within a day's ride, going 
and coming, as Vicksburg, and since this has become known, not a winter has passed 
without seeing several parties of Northern sportsmen camping in the Delta, and invariably 
sending home big bags of game. 

Reference has been made to the lakes and water courses of the country. The former 
are practically innumerable, and many of them of considerable size. Wherever the Yazoo 
or the Mississippi rivers have madea cut-off, a lake is the result. Since these streams 
having been running riot through the Delta from time immemorial, the result is that a 
beautiful lake may be found in every township. Their origin is the same in every instance, 
but thev vary greatly in size, some, as Lake George, near Sunflower river, or AVolf Lake, a 
tributary of the Yazoo, extending twenty miles in length, while of no considerable width. 
The lakes made by the Mississippi river are generally from three-quarters to a mile in. 




Ruins of .\n Old Church on L.\ke Washington. 



74 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



width, but may be twenty or thirty miles long. Lake Washington and Swan Lake, in the 
Delta, and Lake Providence and Lake St. Joseph, in Louisiana, are maKnitieent sheets of 
water and of the largest size. Swan Lake is controlled by a hunting and fishing club, 
comijosed of wealtliy gentlemen who hunt there annually. 

Wild geese and many species of ducks visit 
these land-locked waters every winter in innumer- 
able flocks, at times covering their entire surface. 
Their shores, except where bordered by jilantations, 
are usually surrounded by open woods whose trees 
sweep down to the water's edge, and in the summer 
their crystal deptlis are hidden by tlie leaves and 
flowers of the Southern lotus, a gigantic species of 
water lily. The Sunflower river, more truly a lake 
for a large part of its course, also abounds with wa- 
ter-fowl. Game fish is numerous, the most impor- 
tant to the angler being the black bass, which at- 
tains a very large size and is extremely plentiful. 
In October and November, this fish bites readily at 
artificial flies, while at other seasons preferring 
live bait. The white or speckled perch is another 
tine fish, and l)ream and goggle-eyed perch are 
even more esteemed for the table. 

Lake George, with its wonderful Indian mounds, 
the highest elevations in the Delta and which mod- 
ern engineers say would cost immense sums to rear, 
even witli the mechanical appliances of the present 
day, is a famous fishing resort and easily accessible 
from Vicksburg, while its beauty chides translation. 
Here to the aromatic odor of the forest come 
lovers of pure joys for comparative solitude in the 
heart of nature. In the adjacent wilderness there 
is game to tax the address of the bravest gunner, 
and rippling streams shout in torrent through a 
thousand fierce tangles of wood land, such as is dear 
to artists and unprofessional lovers of untrammeled 
beauty. Have you ever chanced upon a spot 
where nature, turning from gorgeous pigments 
and heroic canvases, in a swift softening mood had spent the white lieat of inspira- 
tion upon a picture on which was permitted neither asperity nor want of perfect grace, a 
thing finely poised between grandeur and gentleness, wood, and water and sunshine and 
sky, rhymed in every line and tone to fine exultation such as the Greek knew when he 
dreamed a statue out of marble ? Lake George is of that category. 

In visiting any of these lakes, the lover of the picturesque and beautiful would 
feel sutticiently rewarded if not a tish, bird or beast existed within a thousand miles of their 
shores. 




A Kitchen Study. 




'm^ 











iPand down 

THE 

MISSISSIPPI 



CHAPTER VIII. 



There is one jjleasure the visitor to tiie South should not miss, whatever otlier recre- 
ations or siglits lie may deny himself. It is a trip on the lower Mississippi, a voyage by the 
" old road to Dixie." Beside this the other delights pale and grow wearisome, for there is 
a subtle hidden charm in gliding for days over the liroad and capricious bosom of this 
great inland river — alike wayward, strenuous, and possessed of creative imagination and 
energies when the mood is on, but just now complacently sauntering oceanwards, that 
challenges comparison and defies description. It must be experienced to be appreciated, 
and once undertaken always remains a bright spot in the memory, to be conjured with on 
gloomy days — or to be repeated, with new sensations and equal delights as before. 

You often hear people say who are contemplating such a trip, " tell me what tliore 
is to be seen ? " 

The best definition that we know of, is that it is utterly unlike any other river trip 
in the old world or this. You think awhile and then you say, " It is the >Iississippi," and 
when }'ou say tliis you have said all. You may do the Rhone or the Rhine, or the Danube 
or the Seine, and feast your eyes on castled turrets and ancient spires — or you may take 
in the scenery of the Hudson, or linger for a season among the far famed isles of the St. 
Lawrence; all these are beautiful no doubt, but you have not in the faintest degree seen 
anything that is a counterpart of the Mississippi. All is different — the people — the coun- 
try — the very style, appearance and get up of the boat on which you travel. In point of 



76 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



duration, a journey for instance, from St. Louis to New Orleans, is, more like taking an 
ocean vovage, but in other respects it is an exact antithesis. 

No' spending half the time below deck, a prey to the undiscriminating ravages of sea- 
sickness— no need of heavy lap robes when you come on deck— no lashing of your chair 
to a friendlv stancheon, lest an ill-time roll, land you over the railings or at tlie best in 
the lea scuppers, nor what is more than all, no lack of appetite to eat tiie dainty repast 
when it is set before vou. On the contrary, your digestive organs, after you have been 
enjoying the delights "of a blow in the fore part of the boat, assume an alarming state of 
activity, and it is safe to sav you never ate so much before. You have all the exhilarating 
eflfects of a long journev bv water, with none of the discomforts of an ocean passage. In 
short, one can sav that it is a trip filled with quaint scenes not found elsewhere; of pic- 
turesque groupings that would lose their distinctive flavor seen under otlier circumstances 
— if, indeed, thev exist anywhere else ; of dreamy days and restful nights ; floods of music 
from light-hearted mocking birds ; rich perfumes" from thousands of opulent southern blos- 
soms—and still the true essence of the charm has quite escaped. It consists as nearly as 
can be expressed perhaps, of the faint, fascinating aroma of a vanished past— of days of 
romance and deeds that are history. The spirit of beauty is everywhere : 

" At eve she hangs o'er the western sky, 
Dark clouds for a glorious canopy 
And around the skirt of each sweeping fold, 
She paints a border of crimson gold. 
She mellows the landscape, and crowds the stream 
With shadows that Hit like a fairy dream, 
Still wheeling her flight through the glorious air— 
The spirit of beauty is everywhere." 

There is a challenge to the imagination in the very waywardness of the river. It is 
the inveterate lover of a chaotic channel. It is its genius to create, isthmuses, islands— new 
towns, new banks, on a scale that from time immemoriai has been the dismay of engineers. 
It feels as though it must make prodigious jumps by cutting through narrow necks of 
land, and thus straightening and shortening itself, and the result is an array of long, 
low islands, timbered to the water's edge, and innumerable lakes and bayous, where birds 

and fish make their haunts in undisturbed 
seclusion. On the wrinkled face of the 
earth, you may read earth's story. She has 
laid things toheart. She broods in mem- 
ories. But the river denies the past, it 
is as heedless of events that were, as the 
air is of the path where the butterfly was 
winging. Its changing, winding expanse 
is alluring to the fancy, and the glories 
aii<l charms which the moon and the sun 
and the twilight inscribe upon the river's 
face, remain indelibly grafted on tlie vis- 
ion of the beholder. 

Sunset on the river '. Have you ever ob- 
served one, from the window of the pilot's 
eyrie '! Red as blood is the broad ex- 
panse before you ; in the middle dis- 
tance the hue brightens into gold, 
through which a solitary log comes dritt- 
ing, black and conspicuous ; in one place 
the surface is liroken by boiling, tumb- 
ling rings, that are as many tinted as an 
opal ; wliere the ruddy flush is faintest, is 
a smooth spot that is covered with grace- 
ful circles, and radiating lines, ever so 
delicately traced ; the shore on one side is 
densely "wooded, and the somber shadow 
that falls from the forest is broken in 
one place by a long ruffled trail that 
shines like silver. High aV>ove the forest 
wall a clear-stained dead tree waves a 
leafy bough that glows like a flame in the 
unobstructed splendor that is coming 
from the sun. There are graceful curves, 
A Lower Deck Char.^cteb. reflected images, woody heights, soft dis- 




PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



77 



tances, and over the whole 
scene, far and near, the 
dissolvinj; lights drift stead- 
ily, enrichin.i; it at every 
passing moment \vith new 
marvels of coloring. 

Such sights as these are 
among some of the pleas- 
ures of a river journey, 
but the half of them can- 
not be told. 

ABOARD AN ANCHOR 
LINE BOAT. 

One of the oldest passen- 
ger lines of the Mississippi— 
the only line to-day carrying 
passengers and freight from 
St. Louis to New^ Orleans, 
a distance of 1,2.50 miles, is 
the old Anchor Line— a 
name so well known as to 
be a svnonyran of ease and 
comfort and courtesy and 
safety, as far as river travel 
is concerned— a line that 
for 40 years has proudly 
carried "its pennant at the 
mast head — outdistancing 
every rival and maintain- 
ing, despite the encroach- 
ment of railroads, in good 
times and bad times, always 
the same efficient service, 
till to-day they have attract- 
ed by low rates, a travel 
that was before unknown. 

The parent organization 
of the present Anchor Line 
was the Memphis & >St. 
Louis Packet Company, 
and took place about 18.55 
or thereabouts, when it ran 
to Memphis only, with 
headquarters at St. Louis. 
Afterwards they extended 
their trips to Vicksburg, 

keeping up also the Memphis line for the time being. Later, the entire line came througli 
to Vicksburg. After this, they bought and built several boats and went through to New 
Orleans, the'"iine to Vicksburg being operated separately. 

Several years later, the Vicksburg line was extended to Natchez, making that beau- 
tiful little city its terminus. In 1S(I3, the entire line went through to New Orleans, the 
business getting so heavv, this was considered the best way to handle it, and the boats are 
now all running to New Orleans, witli the exception of two boats plying regularly from 
St. Louis to ^leraphis, which trade has been revived under the present able management. 
The latter took charge in April ISilo, and organized with Geo. S. Edgell, President; G. C. 
Meissonnier, Vice-President and General Manager, and T. C. Ziegler, Secretary. The 
Directors are A. Watkins and .1. J. Hayes ; the latter being also the Genera! Traveling 
Agent. If we remember rightlv, the first officers were Capt. Dan. Able, President; Capt. 
John A. Scudder, Secretary ; botli of whom are still living in St. Louis, and known as 
among its best and most useful citizens. 

Capt. Scudder afterwards became President, and it was under his wise management, 
that the line became so prosperous and famous. When he retired, Capt. John P. Reiser 
became President and managed the line with signal ability for a number of years. Capt. 
Keiser selling out his stock, Capt. Scudder again became President, and acted as such for 
several years, when his private business requiring so much attention, he turned oyer the 




T.\KiN'G Co.\L AT Greenville. 



78 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



management to Capt. Isaac M. Mason, who remained there until the line changed hands 
in April 1895, when he retired to go into business on shore, much to the regret of his 
numerous friends both on the river, and engaged in other pursuits. 

In speaking of the old othcers of the line, it would be incomplete if we failed to 
mention the connection therewith of Capt. E. C. Carroll, who was their agent at Vicks- 
burg, Miss., for nearly twenty years, a generation it might be said. Capt. Carroll went 
witli the Anchor Line February 7th, 1S7.J, and remained with it until tlie present summer, 
when it was decided on the score of economy to lay up the elevator for business, and this 
rendered tlie office thereof vacant. 

Captain G. C. Meissonnier, the new General Manager, is a native of Yicksburg, and 
the l)est years of his life were spent in the river trade contiguous to the historic city. He 
has been engaged as captain and ck'rk on the Yazoo and Sunflower rivers for many years, 
and there is nothing connected with those positions that he is not entirely familiar with. 
Lately he has been the General Manager of the Yazoo &. Tallahatchie Transportation Com- 
pany, one of the best known steamboat lines in the Jlississippi Yalley. His promotion to 
be the General Manager of the present Anchor Line is regarded with much satisfaction by 
his numerous friends, and is a well-merited tribute to his capacity and untiring energy. 
Captain J. J. Hayes, who is associated with the Anchor Line under the new reijiine, is also 
known far and wide as a " worker," and everything he connects himself with must go 
through someliow or other. Captain Hayes is the General Traveling Agent, which is a 
good title for him, for he is here, there and everywhere at the same time. 





* . . . _ I. -jrr^'Ca"^ ali ; Ji 







Anchor Line Ste.\mer City of C.\iro. 

No need to plead depleted purses, or the old tale of its costing too much money. 
A passenger to-day can go from St. Louis to Memphis and back, a trij) on which a week is 
consumed, for $10, or from St. Louis to Yicksburg for $2-1, or to New Orleans, a 20 day 
trip, for $32. Think of it, this is less than $1..50 a day, board, lodging, and transportation 
included, and when you consider, that the fare on the Anchor line boats rompnn-x favorably 
with that of Jirst class liotels chanjimj $4 and S4.50 a day, your wonder is how the\' can pos- 
sibly manage it. There is always a generous supply of meats in refrigerators ; a store- 
room stocked with groceries, canned goods, condiments, etc.; live poultry have comforta- 
ble quarters on the hurricane deck ; milk and eggs are obtained at various points on the 
route, and one of the events of tlie trip is to accouipany the obliging steward through the 
French market at New Orleans , where he goes at about five o'clock every morning while 
at that port to buy delicious oysters, lirilliant red snappers right from salt water, shrimp, 
alive and wriggling (also from salt water, I and fresh vegetables and fruits. 

Early evening brings the supper hour and the cheery caliin, with its snowy paint 
cleared to the last point or whiteness, is fairly startling in its brilliancy by the light of the 
gently swaying chandelieis. The tables, guarded hy a double line (if sable waiters, in spot- 
less jackets, look homelike and attractive, and the novice soon finds that the Department 
of the Interior is not neglected. In fact, the three meals a day eaten with an Anchor 
Line appetite have come to be important functions, that if the truth, be told, the traveler 
after the first day out looks forward to with pardonable eagerness and some impatience, 
for he at least is always ready. 

In other details the same care and thouglit for the passenger is equally manifest, 
whether it be in the matter of state-rooms, which range from large ones with double 
beds, wardrobes, washstands, draiieries. and bunks like PliIIukui sleepers, or the stuilious 
attention that is shown to the sick passenger by every employee on board. Certainly what- 
ever else may be charged against the .\nchor Line, none can question the excellence of its 
cuisine — or the uniform courtesy of its officers and stewards. From the moment you cross 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



79 



the gangway plank you lose your identity as a citizen, as a stranger unknown, and become 
one of tltem. Every "part of the boat and anything on it is at your disposal, and not the 
least pleasing feature of a sojourn on auy of these floating hotels, is that this spirit of com- 
panionship — this charming disregard of orthodox slioi'e-a-day etiquette seems to be trans- 
mitted from the crew to the passengers, and acquaintance begins with tlie first revolution 
of the steamboat's paddles. You are sure, whenever or by whatever boat you make a trip, 
of forming friendships, for there is a strange fascinating spirit aboard, indefinable— yet 
that breathes of contentment, rest, peace; and softens with its potent charm, the temper 
and acidity of the most querulous individual. Everything goes right — the service and 
accommodation is perfect, and no one is in any hurry for the trip to end—on the con- 
trary a delay of a night at a landing means just so many more hours of pleasure and enjoy- 
ment. 

On the advice of one who has made the journey, and remembers it as a summer 
idyl, to be treasured up as at least one period, all too brief, of rest and perpetual content- 
ment, if you have never made the journey V)y boat from St. Louis to Vickslnirg, make it — 
make it liy all means — even if it lireaks your coffers and leaves you poorer than Job's tur- 
key. Yoii'U get it back in tiie liest sort of medicine— it will repay you a thousand fold, 
and set you longing for the opiiortunity to go again. 




>"'>■■. " :-. 









■^^^■•-::<jm' 



SuNNYSiDE Landing. 



We will suppose that you have made up your mind to take the journey, and 
with your wife and family, if you liave one, and a paper covered novel and a small liand 
grip, if you have not, are on the way to the w'harfboat where the City of Hickman, or the 
City of St. Louis, lies impatiently at her moorings, taking aboard the last items of her 
miscellaneous cargo. From this time on, till you wring the hand of the Captain and dis- 
embark, all you see will have a peculiar feature of attraction. Late, hot excited passen- 
gers arrive breathless — the warning bell is sounded and jieople scurry ashore, some linger 
though to saya few more words to friends and depart none too soon, for before you know it, 
almost without jar or motion, the palatial Anchor Liner, like an old veteran, lias swung 
aroun<l into stream, and witli black wreatlies of smoke puffing from her funnels, precise 
but genial officers on duty, tired roustabouts dispersed at ease all over the boat, is soon 
cleaving the water at an easy ten knot clip. 

ATTRACTIONS EN ROUTE. 

One cannot write soberly of all there is to be seen on the Mississippi river. The 
pulses refuse to be equable and the pen self-contained. Picturesque bits of nature alter- 



80 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



natf with trim towns and cultivated openings 
unfolding foliage that is plentifully sprayed 
are overhauled where the banks are low and s 
ton plantations, and behind and over all th 
Now you suddenly round a bend, and 
the flat shore is broken by a quaint 
village, with a little white church peer- 
ing out in the Ijackgrouud through a 
grove of trees. The essence of the scene 
is passing (juiet and peace. The petty 
noises of the villagers are powerless to 
break the spell that seems to be a par- 
cel of the landscape. The very style of 
architecture — the wooden shanties '<( 
the negro seem spontaneously in touci 
with its environment. The darkey anc 
hiscabin dominates theriver. Black faces 
mingle with the pale Saxon type — the 
music of " the niggar," is heard where- 
ever you hear human speech, and from 
behind the thin walls of his primitive 
abode come the tinkling of a guitar and 
the cadence of a soft voice in plaintive 
rhythm. The sun makes black .><Iiadows 
by every house and tree, and sweeps in 
broad unliroken light over the patch of 
river sand, to cultivated fields beyond. 
Asliore, scjuirrels scamper across the 
way, wild dove and quail start up with 
whistling wing, and there is everywhere 
the song of the birds and the cry of the 
barnyard fowls. 

But still all is not nature and woo< 
land, there are other sights to lie .seen. 
Immediately below St. Louis you pass 
Crystal City, at which place is located 
the largest and finest glass works in the 
country. Plate glass is shipped from 



lines of bluffs appear misty in spring with 

with ever blossoming trees, long reaches 

trung, with great fields of tall corn and cot- 

ese lies an endless variety of winsonieness. 





there to all parts of the globe. Thirty- 
five miles from St. Louis on the ^Missouri 
side, the " Kennett Castle" looms U]). 
Tliis is a magnificent stone residence 
with stately ivy-covered towers, which 
cost its present owner, 'Sir. Brooking, 
of St. Louis, f 100 000, and will com- 
pare favorably with any of the castle 
structures that adorn the St. T-awrence. 
Small craft of every description are to 
be seen in the vicinity of this city. 
Barges, keelboats, skitts, dugouts or pe- 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



81 



rogues, made of hollowed lojrs, and other boats for which language has no name and the 
sea no parallel. The contrast between the magnificent steamer you are on, and the clumsy 
looking fiatboat, moored out nearly in mid-stream strikes you with an odd sense of 
humor, but serves to remind you that the river's earliest commerce— was in great barges— 
keelboats, broadhorns. They floated and sailed from the upper rivers to New Orleans, 
changed cargoes there, and 'were tediously warped and poled back by hand. A voyage 
down and back sometimes occupied nine months. In time this commerce increased until 
it gave employment to hordes of rough and hardy men ; as Mark Twain puts it, " rude, 
uneducated, brave ; suffering terrific hardships with sailor-like stoicism ; heavy drinkers, 
coarse frolickers, heavy fighters, reckless fellows, every one, elephantinely jolly, foul-witted, 
profane; prodigal of their money, prodigious braggards, yet, in the main, honest, trust- 
worthy, faithful to promises and duty, and often picturesquely magnanimous." 

In St. Genevieve, on the west bank, where no stop is made, you have seen one of the 
oldest settlements in the Valley of the Mississippi, founded by Marquette In 1763. Cairo 
passed, which Dickens visited" in 1S42, and Grant made his headquarters in 1861, you are 




View of Saloon, Anchor Line Ste.\mer Arkansas City. 

soon in war waters, and surrounded by war names and memories. Just above Hickman, 
the Chickasaw Bluffs, the first and highest of a series which appear at intervals like islands 
out of the low bottoms, as far South as Natchez, come into view. The Mound-builders 
used these natural fortresses to hold at bay the fierce tribes of the North, and many cen- 
turies later they played a conspicuous part in the civil war. 

At Memphis in June 1862, occurred the famous naval engagement, in which the Con- 
federate flotilla was nearly destroyed, and after which the Union forces took possession 
of the city. The next town of importance, is Helena, Ark., also the site of desperate 
fighting, and after Helena, Vicksburg, located as you will admit viewing it from the river, 
amidst some of the best scenery of the lower Mississippi. Here the visitor can well dis- 
pose of a week viewing the historical points and famous land marks, which survive to tell 
the story of the city's desperate defence against its investment by the Federals. From 
Vicksburg to New Orleans, you see the truly tropical South of tlie imagination, where 
nature exercises her selectest influences, where the landscape is perpetually a flower, and 
7 



S2 



PICTURESQUE VICKSEURG. 



ever redolent with myriad fragrances. As you progress down the river each day tinds the 
vegetation further advanced and more tropical. Xow there are magnolias and umbrella- 
topped cypress trees in abundance. One 
can hardly imagine a more wierd and an- 
cient object than a tall, gaunt cypress 
tree, its lew remaining branches spread 
out like stiff fingers at the top of the 
trunk to support trailing masses of hoary 
moss. Long before this, deep, green gar- 
lands of mistletoe hung high in the trees 
have been noted, and here, floating drai]e- 
ries of Spanish moss add novelty to the 
picture along the shore. 

From Baton Rouge to the Crescent 
City, cane is king, and you are in tlie Lou- 
isiana sugar belt. All day long the steam- 
er floats between smiling lands, cultiva- 
ted as far as the eye can see ; and big su- 
gar-houses, sinuous green levees, magno- 
lias, immense oaks, sweeping Spanish 
moss and the song of the mocking bird 
are a part of ever}- waking liour. 

One feature of the trip that should 
not be omitted, is the brief stops at numer- 
ous plantations by day and also by niglit, 
where the irrepressible roustabout — a 
character born of the river — witli his fas- 
cinating rliythmic coon-jine gets in his 
work. This is something that cannot well 
be <lescribed on paper — a half step — half 
dance, a swaying, a rolling of the Ijody to 
the time of sing song chant and must be 
seen with its attendant surroundings, a 
steep pitch of bank, and a hundred or so 
barrels or boxes to unload in half as many 
minutes, before it can be appreciated. 

Another pleasure that does not wearv 
or pall, is to sit by twiliglit or moonlight 
up, far above deck.s in the jiilot house, and 
watch "the man at the wheel " manieuvre 
with unerring aim the great steamer 
alongside or head to a plantation landing, when to tlie untrained eye no vestiL'e of a sign 
or landing is visible, literally it seems to you smelling his way, but putting his boat's 
nose, for all that, not a foot outside of where he planned to, then turning to tell you with 
a smile, some legend of the river, some episode fraught with romance ami sentiment, that 
occurred at a spot you have just passed. 

The tired city man will find tliis Southern journey a sort of Aretluisa, or a spring 
of nepenthe, where the wounded sensibilities may find a curativk-; where the 'fitful 
fever " of life may be soothed; where the bondage of routine may be broken ; where the 
dull heart may be gladdened ; where a refu^re may l)e found from " weary, carping care," 
where he may enjoy at but trifiiug expense a brief respite from the vulgarity and irrita- 
tion of business, and like the poet who recognizes the music i>f the " inner voice" in the 
river, feel 

" .-\ distant dre.Trness in the hill 
A secret sweetness in tlie stream." 




TniHsTV We.\theu. 




PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



83 



THE MULHOLLAND LINE. 

This chapter would Vie incomplete without mention of the Vicksburg & Greenville 
Packet Company, familiarly knowii as the Mulholland Line, whose fast and beautiful 
steamers, the Ruth and the Annie Laurie, carry the mail between Vicksburg and Green- 
ville, a distance of IBl miles by river. They are one of the most important feeders to the 
city's commerce, and aflford the pleasure seeker the most delightful short trip on the river 
possible out of Vicksburg. Its steamers, running with the regularity and almost the 
swiftness of an express train, make the round trip three times weekly with the utmost ease 
at all seasons, while in the fall and winter, the seasons of greatest activity, both are in ser- 
vice and ply the river almost continually, touching at all intermediate landings in Miseis- 
sii>pi. Louisiana and Arkansas. During the long and prosperous career of the Line it has 
won the cordial friendship of lioth travelers and shippers, and its steamers are invariably 
well patronized by both, whether making their way up stream laden with merchandise for 




Ste.\mek Annie Laurie. 



points en route — Vicksburg's commerce with the upper bends being very large— or coming 
down with the staple product of this region, the celebrated Benders cotton, unrivalled in 
the markets of the world. Officered iiy navigators whose ability is second to none on the 
river, and whose attention to the comfort and pleasure of their guests is an additional at- 
traction to the traveler, the Line can boast that it never lost a passenger or had even an 
accident occur to one while under its care. How many thousands it has carried witli 
safety and celerity it would be interesting to know, were the figures ascertainable. The 
commercial traveler going over this route, which embraces some of the most highly im- 
proved agricultural country in the United States, with a dense population and a conse- 
quently large trade, is able to make his arrangements for visiting and leaving any point he 
wishes" to stop at en route with the utmost precision, just as if he were running through 
the country by rail. 

The tourist, seeking pleasure or information, cannot study plantation life and life on 



84 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



the river under more favorable or agreeable conditions tlian are aftbrded by tliese fast 
vessels with their superb accommodations. The scenes along the river, interesting to 
those to the manner born, are doubly so to one to whom they come as a revelation of 
novelty. In time of low water, the high banks, upon whicli tlie stalwart roustabout labor- 
iously toils witli boxes, barrels and sacks of freight, afibrd pictures of local color that are 
irresistably attractive. It is not only taking on bales of cotton at a hundred landings or 
discharging freight at the same, but the variations on this theme are endless, while the 
scenery on either shore of the river is quite as varied. In time of flood a better idea of the 
Mississippi in its restless might could not be desired than can be gained by stemming its 
rapid flood in this manner, and the journey of 322 miles, made in less than twenty-two hours, 
is withall so inexpensive that any one can aflbrd it who can stop the same length of 
time at an ordinary hotel. In fact, the trip costs nothing. It is merely lodging at a flrst- 
class hotel which is constantly clianging its scenery with its location. Plantation suc- 
ceeds plantation as the traveler proceeds on his journey, interspersed with just enough of 
the primeval forest to lend an agreeable variety to the landscape. When the water per- 
mits, two of the most picturesque of the Mississippi's cut-ofls, PJagle Bend and Bunche's 
Bend, may be visited, one or the other of these steamers making the trip tlirough them 
every week, but in any event the voyager is sure of a deligliful pilgrimage and of adding 
much that is pleasant and interesting to his fund of experience. Not the least interesting 
feature of this short tour is the exceedingly definite idea attainable of the levee system, to 
be seen in its greatest perfection from the guards of the steamer. These mighty embank- 
ments rank among the most imposing feats of American engineering and have engaged in 
their construction and maintenance some of the finest minds of the age. In low water 
they tower above the steamer's deck ; in time of flood the traveler looks down upon them 
and sees furtlier inland and far below him the cultivated fields which they protect from 
inundation. No such spectacle can be seen anywhere in the world except in Holland. 
Viewing their colossal proportions and those of the mighty river which they hold at bay, 
the observer is conscious of the impossibility of setting bounds to the possibilities of hu- 
man achievement as he never was before. 

Scenery on the river is never monotonous, tlie variations of light and shade even in 
the same locality are too great to permit this. Seen at noontide it will present one ap- 
pearance and at sunset another, while by moonlight, or even under tlie brilliant rays of 
the electric searchlight, none but the experienced pilot could recognize the most familiar 
scene by day. The river itself is quite as changeful in its moods, and after a personal ex- 
perience of these kaleidoscopic effects the tourist will end, as tliis brief tribute to the 
Vicksburg & Greenville Packet Company Ijegan. by recommending every traveler who 
visits Vicksburg to take a run up and down the river under its auspices. 




Part II. 




A View on Washington Street. 



THE CITY GOVERNMENT. 




David Montgomery. 
John Walsh. 
^, A. Ehkman. 



M. Foi'ssE. 

Mayor \V. L. TROWBUIDGE. 

Daviu Wai.sh. 



D. A. CAMPBEI.r.. 

Thomas A. Cauoiilin. 
Wakren O. Smith, 




CKSBURG 



RESUMED 



The niiinifipal affaire of Vicksburg are in the liands of a Board of Mayor and eight 
Aldermen, eleftetl liiennially, in December; wliicli in turn elects the other officers, except 
the Assessor and Collector, and the AVharf and Harbor Master, who are also elected by the 
direct vote of the people. 

The present officials, excluding some minor officers, are : Mayor — W. L. Trowbridge. 
Aldermen — Thomas M. Cauf»hlin and A. A. Ehrman ; M. Fousse and David Montgomery ; 
John Walsh and David Walsh ; D. A. Campbell and Warren O. Smith, representing the 
First, Second, Third and Fourth Wards respectively. Assessor and Collector — A. Keirsky. 
City Attorney — R. V. Booth. City Clerk — H. ,T. Trowbridge. Street Commissioner — John 
Evans. Chief of Police — John Groome. Health Officer — Dr. H. B. Wilson. With two 
exceptions the members of the administration have liad long experience in the manage- 
ment of public affairs. Aldermen Ehrman and Fousse being the only members of the Board 
serving their first term. 

The city is policed by an efficient force of twenty uniformed and well disciplined 
men. Its Fire Department, under the direction of an experienced Chief, J. Yoeinkle, is 
operated on the minute-man system, and is admitted to be of high efficiency. As the 
water pressure is very high, the two steam fire engines held in reserve are very rarely 
used. Five hose reels and a hook and ladder truck, in addition to the engines, can be 
turned out upon occasion. The city has just received from the contractors a complete fire 
alarm telegrapli system of the best type, comprising fifteen miles of wire.s and nineteen 
boxes —thirty inch telephone boxes— representing an investment of $.5,000. It may be 
mentioned here that the waterworks, owned bv a New York Company, represent an invest- 
ment of $.300,000. 

The improvements of its streets has received especial attention from every adminis- 
tration for the past ten years, and the aggregate sum invested in that period in .streets, 
sidewalks, gutters and culverts, will approximate half a million dollars, a large slice of the 
city's income, which is in round numbers $14.'j,000. These improvements are of the most 
substantial character, including grading and graveling many streets, besides the mainte- 
nance and extension of a combined system of surface and underground drainage. The 
city was authorized some years ago to issue $100,000 in bonds for the construction of a sys- 
tem of sewers, but has not yet taken advantage of this privilege. 

In addition to the improvements mentioned, a considerable sum, about $9,000 has 
been expended in extending and improving the city cemetery road. 



88 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



Besides the sura annually expended for its maintenance, the city's revenues are de- 
rived from a tax of twenty mills on real and personal property, in addition to license taxes. 
The assessment roll for the year 1895 foots up So,oOO,000 in round numbers, but of this 
amount $525,000 is bank property and only taxable live mills. The valuation is nominally 
two-thirds the actual value of the property, but is actually much lower, especially on per- 
sonal propertv, it is considered bv the best authorities. Some of these place the actual 
values as high as $15,000,000. The total indebtedness of the city is §4:57,5.50.00, of which 
$326,350.00 is funded in five per cent, bonds, of this amount $100,000 is in bonds issued to 
the L. N. O. &T. railroad (now the Y. & M. V.) The floating debt is $20,000. which, however, 
under the present administration, will be entirely wiped out this year, without permitting 
any retrogression in the condition of public property. The bonded debt is required by 
law to be retired by means of a sinking fund of $10,000 annually, but at no time within 
gome years has the city been able to purchase or And sellers who are willing to part with 
her bonds below par. At the last opening of bids onlj' $700 in bonds were offered : a fact 
that sufficiently attests the creilit of the city. 

THE BOARD OF TRADE 



Lori.s HoFK.M.\N, President 




Dan Searles, .Sec. 




Adolph Rose, Vice-President. 
EXECUTIVE OFFICIALS. 



Representative Members of the Board of Trade. 




A G. RUSSELL, 
W. J REA. 
J. C. JACKSON, 
DR. R. A^ QUIN. 
B. W. GRIFFITH, 
JAMES MUNDY, 



7 ABE KUHN, 

8 JOHN WORRELL, 

9 JACOB DORNBUSCH, 

10 SAMUEL SCHWARZ, 

11 RANDOLPH BUCK, 

12 M. FITZGERALD, 

19. SOL. FRIED. 



13 P. M. HARDING. 

14 WARREN SMITH, 

15 WILLIAM CURPHEY, 

16 LEE RICHARDSON, 

17 DOUGLAS S. WRIGHT, 

18 L. M. NICHOLSON, 



Representative Members of the Board of Trade. 




1 


L. R. SHIRK. 


7 


S. C. RAGAN. 


13 


JOHN A. KLEIN, 


2 


E. M. MOORE. 


8 


R. C. WILKERSON, 


14 


R. L. CROOK, 


3 


A. C PEATROSS, 


9 


SIMON STEIN 


15 


W. H. FITZ-HUGH, 


4 


JOHN CURPHEY, 


)0 


D. J. SHLENKER, 


16 


VINCENT PIAZZA, 


5 


DR. W E DATES, 


11 


A G. CASSELL, 


17 


H. M EHRMAN, 


9 


LOUIS HIBOU, 


12 


J, A. CONWAY, 


18 


FRANK MARKHAM, 



'^ 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



89 



Next to tlie Ciiy Govenuuent in iuHueiice, and with a. wider tield of exertions, is tlie 
Vicksburg Board of Trade, organized July 3d, 1894, and but briefly referred to in the first 
chapter. It is emphatically a working body, and one whose semi-monthly meetings are 
attended by the interest of" every citizen. Its members, fifty-eight in number", are the ac- 
tive business men of the city, tlie representatives of its financial and commercial enter- 
prise, and carry with them into the Board the same energy and capacity that have won 
them their place in the world of trade. 

The officers of the Board are, as when organized, Louis Hoffman, of the Louis 
Hoffman Hardware Company, President ; Adolph Rose, Vice-President ; Dan. Searles, Sec- 
retary ; and E. S. Butts, President of the Vicksburg Bank, Treasurer. 

■ The Directors are, S. C. Ragan, E. L. Crook, S. Stein, C. J. Wright, D. J. Shlenker. 

The useful career of the Board began at once, when the ink was scarcely dry on the 
muster-roll, and its achievements may well be regarded with honest satisfaction by its 
members. Among those may be named the bringing about of a conference between rep- 
resentatives of the city, its own body and the Southeastern Tariff Association, by whose 




Tr.\nsporting Cotton bv Steamer. 

happy results local insurers secured concessions, amounting to $40,000 to $50,000 per 
annum from the Association ; the successful management of the Vicksburg Farmers' Insti- 
tute, which brought a large number of distinguished Western visitors to the city, and is 
considered to have attracted many immigrants to this Section ; the State Insurance Con- 
vention of August :20th, ISll.i. which is expected to result in securing the passage by the 
Legislature of an equitable Insurance law ; and, by no means least in importance, induc- 
ing the calling of a general convention of the Valley States in the interest of the improve- 
ment of Western an<l Southern waterways, to be held October 2'J-23d, 1S95; and from 
whose deliberations and action the greatest benefits to all the States of the Mississippi 
Valley are confidently predicted. 

In addition to the regular semi-monthly meetings of the Board, special meetings are 
of frequent occurrence. It is the policy of the institution, as enunciated by its venerable 
but still active President and heartily concurred in by every member, to accustom the 
membership to united action, and the habit is manifestly a growing one. The Board is 
steadily increasing in numbers, each of its successes generally witnessing an accession of 
new members shortly afterwards, and it is justly regarded as one of the city's most indis- 



90 PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 

pensible institutions. The Board occupies handsome quarters, in common with the 
Vicljsburg Building Association, but its members are looking forward to building and 
occupying a home of their own at no distant period. 

PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 

Vicksburg contains many handsome buildings of a public character. Chief among 
them may be reckoned the Courthouse, but briefly mentioned in the earlier pages of the 
book, whose site cannot be excelled by any Ijuiliiing in the country. It occupies the 
square bounded by Grove, ilonroe, .Jackson and Cherry streets, in the center of the north- 
ern half of the city. This square, originally an irregular hill, has been surrounded by 
walls of heavy masonry and then terraced. Its grounds are kept in excellent order and 
liave some fine trees. The Bermuda grass is luxuriant there and the terraces are very 
beautiful. The building is of the Ionic order of architecture, except the cupola. It is an 
exceedingly massive building, and has four magniflcant porticos with large and lofty col- 
umns. It is built entirely of brick, cemented or stuccoed over, only the floors, windows 
and doorsbeing of wood. Though only two storie.s high, its ceilings are high and the propor- 
tion between its height and base are perfect. From its cupola or dome may be seen every 
part of the city. This tine liuilding was designed by William Weldon and built by George 
and Thomas Weldon. An illustration appears on page \b. It was commenced in 18.58 and 
finished in 18t>l, and cost rather more than 8100,000. The flight of over thirty years, ac- 
companied by the vicissitudes of a long siege, has not impaired its beaut)' or strength to 
any appreciable degree. In the second story are the court room and jury rooms. The 
former is a very imposing hall, indeed, and is additionally ornamented by fine oil paint- 
ings of the former luminaries of the Bench and Bar, wiiich hang above the seat of justice. 
Here are found the portraits of Sargeant S. Prentiss, George S. Yerger, the most illustrious 
of seven brotJiers, who were all eminent lawyers ; of Walker Brooke, at one time United 
States Senator, and a lawyer of the most brilliant ability ; .Judge Guion, the jjartner of 
Prentiss and a famous lawyer in his day ; .Tu<lge V. ISl. Yonng, now a member of the bar of 
St. Louis, and .Judge Warren Cowan. These i>ortraits are hung in the following order, be- 
ginning at the right hand of the spectator : Cowan, Young, Guion, Prentiss, Yerger and 
Brooke. 

Vicksburg was the theatre of the greatest forensic effort of Prentiss, Yerger, Guion, 
Brooke and others, and it is peculiarly appropriate that even after death their faces should 
continue to look down upon the living expounders of the law, and to point them to the 
lofty heights olitainable Viy earnest ell'ort, and to remind them also of the high standard 
of professional honor and integrity manifested by these, tlieir noble predecessors. 

The United States Post Office and Custom House, at Vicksburg, is another build- 
ing of which the city is justly proud, (see page 2.5.) 

As a rule, the Uniteil States Government buildings give jjainful evidence of haste and 
lack of thought iu their design, the government giving only a minimum salary with a max- 
imum of work to its supervising architect. This building is an exception to the general 
rule, the design being good with souie excellent detail. The style of architecture is a modi- 
fication of the beautiful Romanesque first introduced into this country by the world- 
famed architect, H. H. Uichardson, of Louisiana. 

On a basement of gray (juary-faced stonew'ork, is erected two stories of deep red 
press brick work. The ajiproaclies being also of stone, this color contrast is very pleas- 
ing. In the upper stories tlie windows and doors are trimmed with molded brick, and 
terra cotta of a little diflferent shade. There are numerous panels and courses of terra 
cotta with beautiful iletail in the brick work, and numerous corners and angles relieve 
the wall surfaces, allowing at the same time sufficient wall surface to show out the detail. 

The interior of the first story is taken up principally by the Post Office department. 
The Post Office proper, is one immense room, whose ceiling is supported liy rows of white 
colums and entablatures of almost the Corinthi;ui order. In the second story are the 
offices of various Federal officers, the Signal Service department, and the United States 
Court room. On the roof and in the tower on northeast corner are the meteorological 
instruments. 

The State Hospital, originally built for a private residence, but remodeled, is on the 
Jackson road, at the northeastern limits of the city. This institution has an annual en- 
dowment of ten thousand dollars, contrilnited jointly by the city, county and State, 
besides a considerable revenue from the ^larine hospital service and private [latients. It 
is a well managed institution conducted in accordance with the most improved methods 
of modern medicine and surgery, and has a capable staff', headed by Chief Surgeon .S. D. 
Robliins and his able assistant, Y>r. .John II. Purnell, who are among the State's most bril- 
liant medical men. A numerous class of internes assist in caring for the patients, and 
derive great benefit from the experience thus acquired. The hospital is a handsome brick 
building with spacious and elevated grounds. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



91 



CARROLL HOTEL. 

An important aiklition to the attractions and conveniences of Vicksburg, the value 
of which cannot be overestimated, is tlie well known Carroll Hotel, which was first opened 
to the public October, 1893. This truly magnificent building, a monument to the enter- 
prise and public spirit of Yicksburg's citizens, is the property of the Vicksburg Hotel 
Company, of which the officers are ; E. C. Carroll, President ; T. M. Smedes, Vice-Presi- 
dent; Joseph Hirsh, Assistant to the President ; W. G. Paxton, Secretary ; and Lee Rich- 
ardson, agent of the property. It was built by popular subscription, in response to the 
demand for better accommodations for the traveling public, at a cost of 1150,000, and 127 
business and professional men of the city, have an interest in its welfare. The hotel is 
pronounced by experts, and indeed by all who visit it, to be one of the handsomest and 
most complete in the South. 

The building is a large four-story structure of the Spanish Eenaissance style, the cen- 




TiiE Carroll prom Clay Street. 



tral part running uji to five stories in height, situated on the corner of Clay and Walnut 
streets, fronting 175 feet on tlie former and 10i> feet on the latter. It is exceptionally well 
located, being in the centre of the city, within a block of the Post Office and principal 
retail and wholesale stores. 

Driving up from the depot, for the first time, the stranger cannot fail to be struck 
with the metropolitan aspect of the hotel, towering above the buildings near by, and mak- 
ing the largest of them look diminutive by contrast. The clean looking ornamental front, 
faced with pressed brick of two colors, the first story mixed with gray sandstone, broken 
by projections which form towers, set off by numerous bay windows. The Carroll presents 
the appearance of a model hotel, which in fact is, both in beauty of exterior, and the per- 
fections of its appointments. 

The interior arrangement consists, on the ground floor, of six stores, a spacious bil- 
liard room, laundry, general lavatory, baggage and store room, with grand rotunda and 



92 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



reading room 102 by 37 feet, connected with the upper floor by a broad oak staircase, and 
passenger elevator, "run by hydraulic pressure. Its every appearance indicate ease and 
rest. Over the marble tile's are scattered comfortable arm chairs, that no time of the day 
are without their occupants, enjoying maybe a quiet smoke, or in summer time taking the 
delights of the breeze which sweeps through the three spacious front doors. 

The second floor consists of a magnificent dining room, that will accommodate 150 
guests, beautifully lighted with windows on two sides, so as to give thorough ventilation; 
children's dining room, ladies' sitting room or rotunda, elegantly furnished, large and spa- 
cious hallways, bedrooms and other appointments. 

The upper floors are divided into bedrooms, so arranged as to be thrown into suites 




Office Rotunda, .\nd Dixixg Room— The Carroll. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



93 



of two or three, with private bath room, the interior, in short, more than fulfills the expec- 
tation awakened by its external attractions. The Carroll is perfect in its appointments 
from its ninety-two large and lofty l)edroonis, that are all designed to open on fresh air, 
and ofi'er many tempting devices for the ease of its occupant to its well set table, where 
the hungry guest will find everything the market aflbrds, and of the besl. In fact, the 
cuisine here is a specialty, and the delicacies of the season are served up to perfection. The 
attendance is prompt, and everything around you liespeaks that cleanliness is a feature. 

The hotel is operated on the American plan, and the prices will be found eminently 
reasonable, and those who appreciate good fare are quite sure to echo tlie universal verdict 
that The Carroll is par excellence. Tlie entire house is lighted with gas. It is heated 
throughout by steam pipes and registers in the rooms and lialls, while the bath and water 
closets, on every door, are supplied with an abundance of clean water from the city water 
works, and the entire building protected in case of fire by a hose on each floor. 

The new manager, ilr. G. B. Duy, familiarly and popularly known as the former pro- 
prietor of the AVashington Hotel in this city some ten years ago, when he succeeded in 
keeping an excellent house though handicapped by an old building and necessarily un- 
favorable conditions, has since and for the past seven or eight years conducted some of the 
best hotels in Columbus and ;\Iacon, Ga. His management of the Carroll since taking 
charge of it, on October 1st, has been such as to win the highest praise from itspatronsand 
has aflbrded him a well improved opportunity to demonstrate his ability as a host. 

The Carroll takes its name from that of the president of the company, Capt. E. C. 
Carroll, who was largely instrumental in its construction. When the new hotel was com- 
pleted an appropriate name was desired, and it was then that in recognition of the untir- 
ing energy and fine executive ability displayed by tlieir cliairman in leading the way to- 
wards the accomjilishment of their plans tliat his associates, by unanimous voice, decreed 
tliat the beautiful edifice sliould be a monument 
to his continuity of purpose and to his inspi- 
ring example which had done so much to in- 
sure the success of their undertaking. This es- 
timate of his zeal in behalf of the community by 
his fellow-workers, representative men of tliis 
section, has been re-echoed by the approval of 
the public. It ma}' be mentioned, however, that 
not in this respect alone has Capt. Carroll de- 
served and received the applause of his fellow- 
citizens, for his labors as Cliairman of the local 
Harbor Committee have lieen characterized by 
the same energy and tlie same success, and liave 
been an important factor in securing (hat degree 
of attention from the National Government 
which is now resulting in the construction of the 
Yazoo river canal, and the consequent free navi- 
gation of Yazoo river and restoration of the har- 
bor of Vicksburg, which will be secured by the 
completion of this improvement under the plans 
and immediate direction of that accomplished 
engineer. Major J. H. AVillard. In recognition 
of this feature of his lifework, Capt. Carroll was 
some years ago appointed a Vice-President of the 
Association for the Improvement of Western 
Waterways. But great as have been his labors 
for the communitjy in the foregoing respects, 
they do not cover the field of his useful activity, 
for he has found time to serve as a director of 

several leading financial institutions, in addition to his many years service as Super- 
intendent of the Anchor Line Elevator, from which he but recently retired. 

EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES. 

The city of Vicksburg is in no department of municipal excellence, more thoroughly 
" abreast of the times," than in the all-important matter of public schools. She is /ac(7e 
princeps among the Southern cities tliat approximate her in population, and the rapidly 
advancing tide of educational impartment in her city schools, will, in the very near future 
place her upoti an equality with many of her sister cities of a higher latitude, whose repu- 
tation for fine educational facilities is almost a household word among the public educa- 
tors of the country. 

A brief description of the public school building, of the curriculum of studies, and 
of the corps of teachers, will give an adequate idea of the matter in point : 




Capt. E. C. Carroll. 



04 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 




Residence of Capt. E. C. Carroll. 

The Main street building, a handsome brick structure of twelve lecture rooms and a 
Superintendent's office, is a model of symmetry and beauty, and is mainly used for girls. 
The "Girl's High School " is located in this liuilding, and the course of this institution is 
higher and more comprehensive than any in tlie State. 




NjiTii \ K K^BURG School Bi'ildin-g. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



95 




Residence ok Dr. S. D. Eobbins. 



The AValnut street buildin<i is a commodious frame house of seven rooms, and is the 
seat of the " Bovs' High School" and of subordinate Grammar grades. 

The South Vickslnirg school building is a splendidly built brick structure, recently 
provided, for the convenience and l)enetit of the southern extension of the city, as well as 
to enlarge the general facilities of accommodation for the rapidly growing needs of the 
educable" population. This building is arranged for Ijoth boys and girls, and is thoroughly 
equipped with most of the modern improvements. 

The Cherry street school, for the colored race, is a frame edifice of ten rooms and an 
excellent basement, and in conjunction with a rental building of six rooms, furnishes com- 
fortable accommodations for more than 1,000 pupils. 

The total value of all of the school property belonging to the city of Vicksburg. is 
estimated conservatively at S116,000, while the equipments are of an excellent order. 

The number of pupils in attendance upon tlie public schools of the city has advanced 
within two years from a maximum number of 1,421 in '92-'93, to 2,190 in '94-'95, while the 
corps of teachers, has contemporaneouslv risen from 32 to 48. 

Most of the teachers of the Vickslmrg Public Scliool, are well educated, experienced 
and successful as teachers, and tlie curriculum of studies is being modeled upon the design 
of the best Grammar and High Schools of the country. 

In fine, the entire management of the public schools of Vicksburg, is so pre-emi- 
nently excellent, that many pupils are annually sent to this city from adjoining towns, in 
order"tliat as temporary residents with kins-people and friends, they may receive the very 
superior advantages that can be accorded to them in the Vicksburg Public Schools. 

The leading private schools are ; St. Aloysius Commercial College, taught by the 
Christian Brothers, and St. Francis Xavier's Academy, for girls, also a Roman Catholic in. 
stitution and attended by a large number of pupils from the city. 

ST. ALOYSIUS COLLEGE. 

St. Aloysius Commerci.\i. College, conducted by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, 
Brother Daniel, Director, was founded in the year 1879, by the late Rev. H. Obertield. Its 
corner stone was laid in the vear 1878, by the lamented Rev. J. H. McManus. 

It was early chartered under the'laws of the State of Mississippi, empowering it to 
grant diplomas and confer degrees. 

From its inception it has received a most liberal patronage from the citizens of 
Vicksburg and vicinitv, irrespective of creed and denomination ; and on every side its sys- 
tem and work are spoken of in the most tlattering terms of respect and esteem. Its efTect- 
iveness as an educational factor may be judged by the large number of graduates and 



96 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG, 



pupils who are now occupying with distinction enviable positions in the mercantile world, 
and by the many abroad who with no less distinction are qualifying themselves for the 
liberal professions. 

The course of studies, while essentially commercial, is varied and extensive enough 
to fulfill the requirements of modern education. 

The number of its professors and the wise provision of a director of studies have 
rendered possible the establishment of an almost perfect grading of pupils. 

The system of govennment, though strict and uniformly requiring compliance with 
the established discipline, is mild and parental. Every means suggested by the enlight- 
ened experience of modern methods of teaching is availed of to promote emulation among 
the pupils, to foster ambition in literary pursuits, to nourish a desire for excellence, and 
to arouse the instinct of honor. 

A most satisfactory communication between parents and professors is provided for 




St. Alovsius Coi.i.EiiE. 



by means of a Report Book, which is marked up weekly informing parents of the conduct 
and progress of their sons. 

The terras for tuition are moderate, and there are no extras. At the present session 
^1895-6 — a classical course was added to the curriculum-, from which great results are 
expected. 

The college has had the greatest success in bringing out the latent energy and the 
self-reliance of its pupils and the high character of its alumni, who are among the city's 
most generally esteemed young business and professional men, is the bsst criterion of 
the success that could be afforded or desired by any institution of learning. These are 
attached to the college to a remarkable degree. 

The college buildings and campus are situated on the northwest corner of (irove and 
Ist North streets, an elevated and Ijreezy location. The grounds comprise half a square, 
ample room for all purposes of exercise. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



97 



ST. FRANCIS XAVIER'S ACADEMY. 

This institution, one of the most flourishing in Viclvsburg, includes three large brick 
buildings, known as the Convent, Boarding School and Academy of the Sisters of !Mercy, 
covering the block on Crawford street, between Cherry and Adams, and extending along 
Adams to Clay. The institution was chartered in 1S60, and its popularity has contin- 
ued to increase with its years, until it now takes rank among the leading educational 
institutions of the South, having been awarded a diploma and medal at the Columbian 
Exposition. 

The classes were originally conducted in the Convent building, but in 1884, the num- 
ber of pupils had so much increased, as to necessitate more ample accommodations, and 
an Academy was erected on the corner of Cherry and Crawford streets, adjoining the board- 
ing school building. 

Tlie Academy is a two story structure, 140 by 60 feet, and contains eight class rooms, 
two music rooms, one studio, a library and an exhibition hall 130 by 60 feet, and 24 feet high, 
with handsomely fitted stage, drop curtain, and all necessary stage apparatus. The class 
rooms, too, are furnished with all the modern teaching apparatus, and the plan of studies 
pursued, is according to the most approved modern methods. 

There are three departments in the institute, each comprising two grades, and each 
grade including two classes. The Junior Department includes a thoroughly equipped Kin- 
dergarten for girls and for little lioys under seven. This forms a very special feature of the 
Academy, and is one of its most interesting departments. The curriculum of studies fol- 
lowed in the Jliddle an<l Senior grades, embraces a full classical course, Latin, French and 
German languages, modern literature, higher mathematics, bookkeeping, stenography, 
type-writing, free-hand drawing, elocution and physical culture. 

The library which is devoted entirely to the use of the pupils, contains about 700 
volumes of standard works, including histories, miscellanies, books of travel, encyclope- 
dias and poems, as well as the be.st magazines of the day. 




View of St. Francis Xavier Academy From Crawford Street. 



98 PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 

The discipline of the Academy is gentle but firm, and special attention is given to 
the manners and morals of the pupils, as also to their physical development, to secure 
which, there are regular drill and calistlienic exercises daily. 

An examination of classes is held on the last Friday of each month, at which musical 
selections, and recitations by the elocution classes give the teachers an opportunity of 
judging tlie progress of the pupils during the month. 

Music has always been a specialty in the Academy, and the musical department 
comprises a regularly graded course on piano, violin, guitar, mandolin, banjo, etc. 

The music department comprises four grades, with two classes in each grade. The 
First Grade embraces verbal instructions in tlieory. New England Conservatory. First 
Grade, Students Primer. Major Scales in octaves, with occasional pieces, etc. 

The Second Grade — N. E. Conservatory Second Grade. Student's Primer, comple- 
ted. Major and minor scales. Studies in Czerney, Kohler, Loeschhorn, KuUah's Sona- 
tines, pieces, etc. 

The Third Grade — N. E. Conservatory Third Grade. Lobe's and Palmer's Lessons 
in Theory. Scales. Arpeggios, Broken Chords, etc. Mozart, Mendelssohn, Haydn, Cra- 
mer and Clementi's Studies, Mozart's Sonatos, Chopin, Weber and Schumann, etc. 

The Fourth Grade — Advanced Exercises concluded, embellishments, etc. Peter's 
Thorough Base. 

The violin course also includes four grades, similarly arranged. 

Vocal Culture, First Grade — Art of Breathing, Tone Placing. 

Second Cirade — Bassihi's New Method, Essay Ballads. 

Third Grade — Bassini's New Method, Songs of moderate difficulty. 

Fourth CTrade — Bassini's New Method completed. Classical Selections. 

Ripley and Tapper's Sight Singing taught in the Jliddle and Senior Grades. 

The Art classes are at par with the other departments of the institute, and include 
drawing in crayon, cliarcoal, ink, pastel, etc. Painting in oil and water colors, china and 
glass painting, etc. 

The boarding school which enjoys the patronage of the neighboring States, as well 
as our own, is most carefully conducted, and the pupils, while enjoying all the comforts of 
home, receive every possible attention in regard to health, moral training, etc. 

The graduates of the institute may be found holding positions of trust, all through 
this and neighboring States. 

WALKS AND DRIVES. 

To the lover of pedestrian exercises, Vicksburg oflers many attractions. The side- 
walks are almost invariably good, and every residence street affords a pleasant promenade, 
as beautiful shade trees are abundant, and afford even in the hottest weather ample pro- 
tection from the too brilliant sunshine. Cherry street is the prominade pur excellence 
and during the greater number of the evenings of the year is thronged with persons tak- 
ing their constitutional exercise or simply walking for pleasure's sake. Their patliway, 
lying anud verdant lawns on either side with many parterres of rarely beautiful liowers or 
niagnilicent foliage plants, is sufficiently enticing to tempt the visitor to a mure extended 
stroll than he may have originally had in contemidation. If so. Grove street oflei's almost 
equal attractions, or lie may wander on southward to Drummond, in Speeil's .\ddition, or 
in tlie contrarv direction," may visit old Vicksburg — commonly known as Springfield — 
where the sanie lovely flowers and shrubbery and views quite as picturesque await his 
coming. .Main street "is one of the quaintest streets in the town and was among the first 
built up by the early settlers. There are many others worth seeing, and indeed that will 
well repay a visit. 

The City Cemetery. 

In a sequestered and quiet valley, a mile northeast of the city, surrounded by the 
highest hills of the Vicksburg range anil occupying a series of undulating slopes trending 
in a southerly direction, lies the City Cemeterv. chosen many years ago on account of the 
beauty of its scenery and surroundings by the founders of the place. A more beautiful 
situation could scarcely be imagined and of late years art has done much to heighten the 
efl'ect of natural charms. On the north the hills overhang the cemetery like battlements, 
as if to guard the sleepers below. Half a mile away, to the south and soutlieast, rises an 
opposing range, similarly crowned with trees incluiling many evergreens, and between 
these lies the smiling valley, through the midst of which runs a shallow stream, in stormy 
weather a mountain torrent. A gravel road extending from the city limits gives access to 
tlie cemetery, which covers more than a hundred acres of ground and has some fine drives. 
Up to a few "years ago, wlien the city put the grounds in order at considerable expense, the 
exuberant vegetation gave the cemetery an appearance highly picturesque indeed but not 
appropriate to its uses. These tendencies were checked, however, a vast amount of super- 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



99 



flous timber and shrubbery removed and a task begun, for it is still in progress, that will 
make the place one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the South. 

Tlie notable monuments of the city are those in memory of the dead of Louisiana, 
erected in Monument Square, Monroe street — an ornate marble shaft, the offering ol surviv- 
ing coniratles, and the Confederate Monument, which adorns the last resting place of three 
thousand victims of the seige, a sunny slope in the Cemetery. The latter is of white mar- 
ble, ornamented liy a tine statue of a Confederate sentinel, carved in Italy. This was erected 
by the Ladies Confederate Memorial Association, and is valued at three thousand dollars. 
Including the statue, it is twenty feet in height. Its design is massive and simple. An- 
other monument, occupying an inconspicuous site in a churchyard on the corner of First 
East and Monroe streets, preserving the memory of the city's proto-martyr, the gallant 
Dr. Hugh Bodley, killed by the gamblers in 1835. These desperadoes had congregated here 
in sucli numbers, had grown so emboldened by long impunity, that life was insecure and 
no woman was safe from insult. Dr. Bodley headed a part}' of four hundred citizens, who 
rauled their dens, and was shot down by some gamblers who had barricaded themselves 
in the noted " hell " of the period. The house was stormed by the outraged people and 
five of the defemlers led out to execution. All were hanged to a tree which stood near the 
intersection of Clay and Fanner streets. This act of summary vengence completed the 
victory of the friends of order and had a most salutary effect. The monument is a pyramid 
of Italian marble resting on a base of same, with inscriptions testifying the people's grati- 
tude to their champion. 




ClIERKY Stkeet. 



The site for the Jewish cemetery, which lies east of the city, is the almost circular 
summU of an elevation on the Grove street road. With commendable pride and liberality 
the population attached to the Hebrew faith purchased it several years ago, surrountlcd it 
witli a substantial wall of coping and sviitable enclosure, and converted the spot into lian<l- 
.some and exceedingly well kept grounds. The situation is a commanding one, the view of 
the city from tlie summit being especially fine. Here the lines of the opposing Federal and 
Confederate intrcnchments approached each other more closely than at any other point, 
except on tlie Jacl-son road — within less than a stone's throw in fact — and it is stated that 
very frequently the hand-grenades hurled by the besiegers into the Confederate lines were 
picked Uji and throw'n back again before they had exploded. The entrenchments were 
leveled long since and where the muskets once rang out on the sultry air scarcely a sound 
is heard but the song of birds and at intevals the bells of the distant city. White monu- 
ments dot the closely mown sward that was once scorched by the cannon's breath "and 
many a time you there might pass, nor dream that e'er that conflict was," if a paraphrase 
of the poet's language is admissible. 



100 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 




The city's drives are also highly attractive, wliether one chooses to confine himself 
to the limits of the corporation or to go further afiold. That afTorded by the National 

Cemetery road and tiie matrniticent grounds ol the ceme- 
tery itself, is pre-eminent in many respects ; but Grove 
and Clierry and Clay and Washington streets, all well 
graveled tlioroughfares, afi'ord several nnles of excel- 
lent drives, whil.' every elevation oflTers some attractive 
scene to catch and delight the eye of even one to the 
manner born. .Still finer, although the roadway is rough 
and unpaved, is tlie route over the great ridge of hills to 
the National Cemetery, from whose heights may he seen 
tlie valleys of tiie Yazoo and the Mississippi, spread 
out like a ma|) many miles in extent and bordered in 
the foreground by the blue waves of Lake Centennial, 
while the Father of Waters runs across the scene 
like a liand of silver in the distance. About mid- 
way of this road is the boldly projecting spur of the 
bluflfs overlooking the lake known as the Devil's Back- 
bone, near which the celelirated cannon, "Whistling Dick" was mounted. Should it 
ever be deemed advis- 
able to fortify Yicks- 
burg again, these 
heights, guarded b y 
modern guns and com- 
manding the river for 
miles in either direc- 
tion, could concentrate 
a weight of metal upon 
an enemy's decks that 
no vessel could hope to 
escape unscathed. 

The drive out Wash- 
ington street and the 
Warrenton road, is also 
noted for the beauty of 
its views of both hill 
and valley scenery, and 
the same may be said of 
the Jackson road, famil- 
iar to visitors as being 
the route to the gun 
monument that marks 
the scene of the surren- 
der of the city. This 
road for the greater part 
of its course, winds 
along the summit of a 
ridge of considerable 
height from wduch tlic 
passer looks down uj)on 
long slopes of green 
fields in the valley be- 
low on each side. There 
are a succession of hills 
and valleys in every di- 
rection, each clothed in 
verdue. Even the most 
rugged peaks of these 
hills display the same 
vivid green, for the 
abundant rains enable 
all sorts of plants to 
grow, even in the most 
unpromising localities. 
Bluffs are festooned 
with honeysuckle, from 
the trees graceful vines 
depend, and I in short 




CONFEDER.\TE MoNU.MEXT. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



101 



there is scarcely an acre within miles of the city that would not afford spoil of the rich- 
est kind for the landscape painter. In fact, a New York artist of some repute, who visited 
Vicksbiirg some years ago ami went away with his portfolio enriclied with some hundreds 
of sketches, was wont to say that an artist could spend a month pleasantly and profitably 
in a single ravine which he indicated. 

YICKSBIIRO AS A BATTLE-FIELD. 

As the scene of one of the most des])erate sieges in history and of some of the most 
important military events that decided the fate of the Confederacy, Vicksl)Urg has long 
been a place of patriotic pilgrimage. Tlie Northern visitor is naturally anxious to view the 
theatre of one of Gen. Grant's greatest triumphs, the Southerner takes a natural pride in 
the fact that the defense was characterized by a heroism and a stubborn endurance rarely 
paralleled in modern warfare, while veterans of either army return at frequent intervals to 
re-visit their old battle-ground. This forty-seven days' struggle is as fresh in their memory 
as ever and the vistages of tlieir old works .nre eagerly traced out by these survivors of a 
conflict that has left beiiind it no bitterness. In the city proper there are few evidences 




N.\Tiox.\L Cemetery. 



that such a conflict ever was. Tlie march of improvement long since eraced such intrench- 
ments as existed witliin its limits and but one or two of the bomb-proofs excavated by the 
citizens as a refuge from the rain of sliot and shell that poured down on the devoted city, 
are still to be seen. The old lines, however, occupied by the hostile. armies and surround- 
ing the city on the north, east and soutli are fairly distinct in many places and in some it 
would scarcely be believed that 32 years had passed since they were deserted by the legions 
tliat once held them so tenaciously. Where the Federal and Confederate intrenchments 
were nearest each other, on the Jackson road — only those most intimately acquainted 
with the ground can say that the scene of conflict was here. Since " Picturesque Vicks- 
burg" was planned and partially executed, an attempt has been begun, and, havingsecured 
the powerful indorsement of the Grand Army of the Republic is likely to prove successful, 
to induce the Federal Government to designate by permanent monuments the sites of 



102 PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 

principal interest, and the points occupied during the siege by the various commands en- 
gaged on eitlier side. This work, if neglected much longer, cannot be accomplished, as 
those who are alone able to indicate them are rapidly passing away. 

Among the fortitications still conspicuously perfect may be mentioned a fort in the 
field known as the Lane pasture, about one and a half miles southeast of tlie city, which has 
been carefully preserved by the owner of the property. Many others are also pointed out 
in the circuit of thirteen miles — the inner or Confederate works were over eight miles in 
extent — comprised in the intrenchments. 

The story of the siege has been told too often to bear repetition. Tlie endurance dis- 
played on both sides has macle Vickshurg a monutnent to American valor and as such it 
will be visited for generations to come. 

THE NATIONAL CEMETERY. 

" How sleep the brave, who sink to rest, 
By all their country's wishes blest ! 
When spring, with dewy finger's cold, 
Keturns to deck their hallowed mold. 
She there shall dress a sweeter sod - 
Than fancy's feet have ever trod." 

A little more tlian a mile north of Vicksburg on the east side of tlic Yazoo Valley 
road, on wliich it fronts, is one of the most magnificent graveyanls ever ilevoted to the 
interment of the dead soldiers of any nation. Here is a masterpiece of landscape engin- 
eering, and troiu the imposing entrance arch, to the verdant heiglits, and wondrous dells, 
this splendid burial ground is a grand memorial to those who dietl for the Union. 

There are walks and drives about these grounds as delightful as any in tiie more pre- 
tentious parks of our Xorthern cities, and the visitors who neglect to spend a few hours 
in this charming retreat will miss one of the most pleasini; experiences of their visit. A 
tine graveled drive twenty feet wide extends trom tlie entran<'e, in the southeast corner, 
along the south side, overlooking the ravine, once peopled with thousands of armed men, 
near the river ; then turns north and winds around below the terraces to the Yazoo Valley 
road on the east, and about one hundred and tilty yards north of the iiiain entrance, near 
the lodge. A similar drive begins at the main entrance, and, winding around tlie plateau 
to the southwest, passes through the terraces, and connects with the main drive near a 
large natural mound in the southwest corner of the groumls circumscrilied b}' the main 
drive. A series of terraces encircles the summit of the once forbidding Ijliiti", now leveled 
into a charming plateau on three siiles— south, west and north. Lonv avenues of trees, 
mostly .Spanish oaks, lead in and out among these terraces, and these are supplemented 
everywhere with tropical plants and picturesque po^^TrfS of blooming flowers. Cosy nooks 
are here, where the tired visitor may rest, and drink in tlie vast panorama that stretches 
before him across the peninsula away to the Louisiana shores ; delightful shades, where 
with book or sketch one may beguile the fleeting summer hours. 

The pathetic roll of the unknown dead who sleep here lengthens out until 12,7Ul are 
entered, with 3,889 known ; a total of 16,018 soldiers who lost their lives in the storming 
of the '■ Gibralta of the .South" and a<ljacent fields, iluring the-memorable siege whicli 
resulted in Vicksburg's capitulation to tien. Grant, July 4th, 18G1, after a contest begun in 
November the previous year. This cemetery is on high ground overlooking " Lake Cen- 
tennial," and it would be difficult to find another location so fitting for tlie use. The grad- 
ing, the drainage, the landscape gardening, in every respect, are admiralde. and the effect 
in details is beautiful ; as a whole, imposing. On the plateau above the terraces is the 
Lodge, Flag Staff and Rostrum. 

From the top of the " Indian Mound," on which stands the Grant-Pemberton Monu- 
ment, a landscape view unequaled in grand variety and extent, is presented — Lake Cen- 
tennial encircling DeSoto Island at its foot, while, like a silver band, the broad Missis- 
sippi, fringed with its forests of emerald hue, in the distance following a serpentine 
course, divides the valley below. Full view is also had of the forts and fortifications on 
Fort Hill, and the formidable redoubts that once formed from oft' the ridge as far as the 
eye can reach. 

The main avenue, known as Grand Avenue, Indian Mound Avenue, and Chinaberry 
Avenue, are broad, cleanly-swept walks and drives, overhung with supurb shade, and bor- 
dered with leafy foliage, that vie with the most pretentious avenues of Alount Auburn or 
Greenwood. Mound E., the site of the officers's graves, contains an elegant liasin of water 
with fountain, and affords a delightful view of the river, that is unsurpassed even in this 
wonderful Southern clime. 

The cemetery is visited at all seasons of the year by tourists and travelers, as well as 
the general public in the immediate vicinity, who never seem to tire enjoying its lovely 
drives, and the imposing effects of the trees, shrubbery and flowers that are here in luxu- 




RlvSIDRXCK OF GeX. E. S. Bl'TTS 




Residence of Mbs. Bettie D. Willis. 



104 PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 

rious abundance. The record ot interments of tlie various National cemeteries, show tliat 
the one in Vickslmr^ is the hir<;est in tin- country. Wlien it is considered that the num- 
ber is equal to the jiresent popidation of most ol the smaller cities ol the I'nion, and ex- 
ceeds any town in ilississipjji or Louisiana, e.xcepting Vicksburg and New Orleans, some 
idea may be formed of the magnitude of this veritable "city of the dead," which no visitor 
should omit to visit. 

" By fairy hands the knell is rung 
Hv forms unseen Iheir ilir^e is suri^ 
There honor comes a pilijriin gray 
To bless the turf that wraps their clay ; 
And freedom shall a while repair 
To dwell a sleepini; hermit there." 

vicKSBrKirs .military uompames. 

YieUsburg has always taken the deepest pride in her military organizations and the 
fact that slie sent no less than eighteen companies to swell the Confederate forces in the 
civil war is sufficient evidence of the martial spirit of her people. This, however, had 
already been displayed on earlier fields, for the city's oldest military organization, the 
Volunteer Southrons, is the lineal successor of two companies, the Vicksburg Volunteers 
and the Vicksburg Southrons, which as portions of Col. JeUerson Davis' First JIi8sissii)pi 
Regiment shared the perils and glories of the Mexican war and the laurels that fell to the 
lot of that gallant command on the bloody field of Buena Vista. When the civil war begun 
the Vicksburg Volunteer Southrons, under command of the late Col., then Captain, D. N. 
Moody, went to tlie front in May, ISlil ; and in the array of Northern Virginia as a part of 
the Gritfith-Barksdale-Humphreys brigade, McLaws division, Longstreet's corps, dared all 
that man might dare in the bloody four years' struggle that ended at Appomattox. It is 
needless to say more. The present command was organized as a portion of the National 
Guard of the State, with ilr. John A. Klein as captain and has since won an honorable 
reputation by its proficiency in military evolutions, as displayed on many a competitive 
field. Its captain is D. S. Corapton, and its roster numbers about 100 men. The company 
has a commodious armory on South Washington street, where it entertains visiting 
military. It is well equipped, both with arms and accoutrements. 

The WarrenLight Artillery, whose armory is situated on North Walnut street and is 
owned by the company, is another historic command and one whose past glories would be 
an incentive to daring deeds, should need arise. The original command, better known 
from its commander, Maj. Chas. Swett, as Swett's Btittery, was organized at the outl>reak of 
the war and entered the conflict one hundred strong. Attached to the Army of Tennessee, 
its historj' is one of the brightest though most terrible pages in that of the forces led in 
succession by Albert Sidney .lohnston, Bragg, Joseph E.Johnston and Hood. Distinguished 
service was rendered by it on every field, but especially at Chickamauga and at its last 
terrible fight, Jonesboro, Ga., in ISil-t, where after a hand to hand struggle its few survivors 
were killed, wounded or captured, its guns lost and the command practically annihilated. 
The battery was frequently recruited, its losses being extremely heavy. Nine of its original 
members are still alive, of whom Surgeon T. G. Bitchett is now serving in the same capacity 
with the present command. The latter was organized shortly after the war, with .Major 
Sweet as commander. Years ago Capt. J. J. Hayes was chosen commander, a post which 
he still holds, with honor to himself and to the great benefit of the battery. The other 
officers are: First Lieutenent G. R. Moguin ; First Junior Lieutenent, J. W. Musgrove; 
Second Lieutenent, Alex. Musarove; First Sergeant Allen .idams ; Surgeon, T. G. Bircbett 
and Assistant Surgeon, J. A. K. Bircbett. The company has SO men on its roster, of whom 
some forty are thoroughly drilled and equipped. The company's proficiency in drill and 
in firing lias been frequently comidimented by military men, and its men display a most 
laudable i^ride in the organization. Its arms consist of two three inch rifles and a gatling 
gun, besides the customary side-arms. 

FRATERNAL SOCIETIES AND CLUBS. 

The quality of gregariousness, as well as its higher development which is the foun- 
dation of all the benevolent .nssociations known to humanity, is strongly displayed in 
Vicksburg, and few towns of its size are the seat of so many fraternal or purely social 
organizations. The Masonic Order is represented by a Blue Lodge, Chapter, and Coni- 
mandery, each of ancient foundation and each strong in numbers, meeting in a temple 
whose architecture and furnishings are meritorious in design and execution ; and few of 
the younger orders are unrepresented. There is a large following of Odd F"ellows, com- 
prising tlireo lodges, besides the F.ncampuient and the lodge of Daughters of Eebekah, 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



105 



with some three hundred members all told; and the six hundred Pythians of the city 
boast that the local Endowment Rank, Section 34, is the largest in the world. The Ameri- 
can Legion of Honor has a strong council ; the Knights of Honor are a numerous band ; 
the Ancient Order of United Workmen is one of the city's fraternal institutions ; the 
Woodmen of the World have two strong lodges, and a Senate lately founded by the Essenic 
order is in a flourisiiing condition, nor should the I. O. B. B. and I. O. S. F. I., "similar insti- 
tutions of the Jewish citizens, be forgotten in the list of these powerful agencies for pro- 
moting the welfare of mankind by relieving the necessities of the sick, the widow and the 
orphan, for both have a numerous membership and are doing a great work in their sphere 
of action. 

Of a character more strong- 
ly social yet not without its 
conspicuously benevolent fea- 
tures, is the Order of Elks, 
which has a superbly equipped 
lodge room, parlors, etc., and 
more than a hundred mem- 
bers, and is noted forits charm- 
ing entertainments. The Elks 
have a penchant for entertain- 
ing strangers, and their refined 
and elegant hospitality is one 
of the city's chief attractions. 

The Belmont Club, organ- 
ized a year or two since, is an- 
other flourishing organization, 
and is about to fit itself up 
new and enlarged quarters to 
accommodate its rapidly in- 
creasing memliership ; the 
Catholic Young Men's Club 
has a large mendiership and is 
noted for its excellent orches- 
tra, as well as for its well 
equipped gymnasium. The 
Yicksburg Cotillion Club is 
conspicuous in leading society 
circles, the Idlewild Club also 
gives a number of handsome 
balls annually and many 
others might be mentioned, 
which are wholly devoted to 
. the promotion of social pleas- 
ures. The Phantom Club is 
now fitting up rooms, and has 
a large membership. 

The Germania Club, organ- 
ized in ISiH with Wm. Renter 
as President, is designed ex- 
clusively for citizens of Ger- 
man nativit}' or extraction ani 
club-house on Soutl 
placing it upon a 




B. 11. Lrii;i;Ai:"i L'l.i i:. 



has a handsome 
list of members, 
las demonstrated 



is the first club of this character. It 
^Monroe street and has already a considerable 
most prosperous basis. Young as it is, this club 
its strength and influence by taking the initiative with the most gratifying success in 
organizing the Yicksburg German-American Immigration Association, an organization 
which has on its list of members many of the city's foremost Ijusiness men, and which 
has begun an active campaign in the Northwest in the interest of promoting immigration 
to this county and section. This association has lor its presiding officer, President B. W. 
Griffith, of the First National Bank. 

The Corresponding Secretary is Mr. Wm. Renter, who may be addressed for any in- 
formation that would-be immigrants may desire. The association was organized for the 
public good, not for private gain ; in fact there is no possible way in which its members, 
individually or collectively, can derive pecuniary profit from its work, except indirectly 
and througli the advancement of the well-fare of the cominunity. 

The club, par e.rci'Heitce. however, in that it provides tor the entertainment of an 
entire community, young and old, grave and gay, is the B. B. Literary Association, occu- 
pying its own elegant building on the northwest corner of Clay and Walnut streets, imme- 
diately opposite The Carroll, and representing an investment probably in excess of $50,000. 



106 



PICTtTRESQTJE VICKSBURG. 



The Association was organized in 18!S6, wlien it leased and jiroceeded to furnisli superlily, 
the Balfour mansion, on the southeast corner of Cherrj' and Crawford streets, now owned 
and occupied 1)\' Mar\-e Dabney, Esq. Here it prospered exceedingly until the members 
determined to have a home of their own, built expressly for club purposes, and having 
decided u]ion this step they purchased the present very eligible site and commissioned 
Architect William Stanton to plan the Tiuilding. The elegant structure shown in the 
engraving, was the result of this commission, and is a monument to his genius and to the 
taste and lil)erality of the club. The building is of Vicksburg pres.sed brick with stone 
trimmings and was completed in Oct., '92. It rests upon foundations of the most substantial 




Staircase and Dining Room of B. B. Literary Club. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



107 



character, and is in all respects a model of solid elegance. The first floor, which is above 
an excellent cellar or basement, is occupied by two stores, midway between which is the 
grand entranci' to the club rooms in the second story. The stairway, an easy ascent, ends 
in the reception room, on either side of which are the parlors, which are large and airy, 
and magnificently furnished. Across the way, on the west side of the building, is the 
banqueting hall, running the full length of the building, or 150 feet, where five hundred 
guests maj- be and frequently have been seated without crowding. This floor also con- 
tains the Ijilliard and library rooms, besides some of the rooms devoted to the use of the 
caterer. The third'fioor is occupied by the auditorium of a private theatre, the stage — a 
commodiously large one and fitted up with handsome scenery — and the dressing rooms. 
The auditorium is also tlie ball room, and has been tlie scene of many pleasant entertain- 
ments, nearly all the social functions of the Jewish community taking ])hice at the rooms 
of the club. Considered from an architect's point of view, this auditorium is one of re- 




IIali, of B. B. Liteuauv Club. 



markable beauty. The ceiling is of polished ash with grained arches supporting the root, 
in fact, native ash is the predominating feature of the interior of the entire building, and 
no handsomer material could be desired. The great size of this hall, added to its tasteful 
finish, makes it probably the finest auditorium in the State. 

The Association now has a membership of eighty, comprisinga large j)roportion of the 
Jewish population of the city, of all ages, to whom its charmed portals are a second home. 
Here are given the balls and parties of the children as well as ot mature belles and beaux, 
nor do these festive events interfere with the quieter enjoyments of the older mend>ers of 
the club, so ample are the accommodations at the disposal of the members. Wedding 
receptions and banquets are also distinguished features of the club's vie intime and some 
of the most superb events of the kind have taken place here that have ever distinguished 
the city's annals. In fact, the club and clul> house is known all over this part of the Mis- 
sissippi valley, as the centre of the most lavish, yet refined, hospitality, while its cuisine 
under the direction of its accomplished caterers, past and present, is no less celebrated. 



108 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG 



The officers of the Association at tliis time are: President, Joseph Hirsh, re-elected 
at every term since its foundation ; Adoljih Kose, Vice-President ; C. E. Beer, Second 
Vice-President ; Laz Hirsch, Secretary; Leop Schwarz, Treasurer. 

To these jrentleuien the Association is indebted not only for its plan of interna.1 ope- 
rations, wliich is so perfect that its every detail is accomplished without tlie slighte!?t fric- 
tion, though it need scarcely be said that the organization is of the most complex nature ; 
hut for an attention to matters financial and an ability in their direction which lias made 
the club a model to founders of similar institutions. How to conduct an enterprise of 
this character so as to afl'ord its members the maximum of j>leasure and satisfaction at the 
minimum of cost is a problem that might tax the ingenuity of the most successful man of 
business, or of any number of them. This has been done, and that without laying any 
appreciable burden on the membership such a splendid club house should have been con- 
structed, is an achievement which will be an enduring monument to the men who planned 
and executed the sclieme. 

BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS. 

In the last few years the demand lor homes occasioned liy the growth of population 
has been so great as almost to assume the proportions of a boom, though without the re- 
action that naturally follows feverish speculation. Cottages and more pretentious build- 
ings are continually being built in all parts of the city, and the demand is now greater 
than ever. The building associations iiave been great factors in promoting the building 
up of the city. One of the largest in the South, and the pioneer association in the State, 
is the 

The Vicksburg Building Association. 

This Association was organized in 3871, and its charter approved June 12th, 1871. 
Its charter members were S. Spengler, Geo. Klein, John B. Harris, George W. Hutch- 
eson, Wm. H. Jewell, John Edelman, H. B. Bruser, R. F. Beck, Wm. A. Faircliild, Win. 

French and Joseph L. Herman ; who elected the fol- 
lowing as its first officers; S. Spengler, President ; 
George W. Hutcheson, Treasurer, and John B. Har- 
ris. Secretary. 

Its phenomenal growth and handsome returns to 
its stockholders, especially during the fourteen 
years of John F. Halpin's incumbency as Secretary, 
have been satisfactory to all interested. 

Since its organization it has matured sixteen se- 
ries of stock, and has jiaid to its stockholders 
for matured and cancelled stock, over a million dol- 
lars. 

The liun- 
d r e d s o f 
homes that 
its aid has 
enabled its 
borro w i n g 
memljers to 
erect a n d 
own, has not 
only jiroven 
its necessity 
and useful- 
ness but has 
redoun d e d 
to the city's 
growth, re- 
venue a n d 
prosperity, and in tiie language of a distinguished 
orator " has dignified human nature, as when a per- 
son sets out a tree he has a new interest in this 
world, and when he owns a little tract of land and 
home he feels like Jehovah and himself are part- 
ners, all of which tends to the creation of the high- 
est type of citizenship." 

It has now in force nineteen series and 4.1.")l^> 
shares, 1,700 shares being borrowed upon. It has ,, -.r y -\i,.,vih,tt Cpp 

a capital of $391,443.28, consisting of $340,000.00 i»iR. iu. J. -ullmhill, oec. 

of loans and real estate, cash and collectible assets amounting to $.51,443.28. 




Ml!. ,1. J. ^IrLi.ir.AX, Pres. 




3 tf^ 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



109 



Its present officers are : J. J. Mulligan, President ; 8. Stein, Vice-President ; A. M. 
Paxton, Treasurer ; T. R. Foster, Attorney ; M. J. Mulvihill, Secretary. The directors are : 
T. H. Allein, A. L. Jaquitli, Robt. Ernst, Jolin M. Rvan, Jos. Hirsh, V. Piazza, E. S. Butts, 
A. S. Kuhn, W. H. Bleytliing, M. F. Levy, J. M. A. Brennan, S. P. Metzger, M. Tierney, Sr., 
Wm. Curjjhey. 

As representing the financial, commercial and manufacturing interests of the city, 
the selection of the aforementioned officials could scarcely have been more happily made. 
Their direction of tlie Association's afl'airs ha.s been frauglit with advantages of the most 
sul)stantial nature to its shareholders, and assures a continuance of the long career of pros- 
perity that has hitherto distinguished its history. 

The President, Mr. Mulligan, has held his office by the suffrages of his fellow stock- 
holders for several terms, and has always administered his trust to their satisfaction. One 
of the most prosperous business men and manufacturers in the city, he has brought as his 
contribution to tlie direction of the Association's affairs all the clear-headed ability that 
has distinguished the management of his own. The encouragement of that thrift in 
otiiers which personal experience has shown him is most favoralile to the welfare of the 
individual as of society in general, is to liim a most congenial privilege, as well as liis duty 
as the head or an organization W'hose very basis is the development of those frugal in- 
stincts which make nations as well as persons prosperous. 

The mantle of Mr. Halpin, the late Secretary, who after serving the stock-holders for 
years was compelled by the increasing burden of his private affairs, to retire from the re- 
sponsible post he had filled so ably and so well, is most worthily worn by his successor, 
Mr. M. .T. Mulviliill. His qualifications for tlie duties, the onerous duties it might be said, 
of this position were so eminent that all eyes naturally turned towards him when it was 
known that Mr. Halpin would not lie a cauilidate for re-election. His successful adminis- 
tration of liis laljorious charge is justly regarded by his friends as sufficient to stamp him 
as a business man of substantial and brilliant ability. 

The Mutual Building and Loan Association. 



A new comer in the field, but already giving signs of lusty gi'owth, is the Mutual 
Building and Loan Association, which was organized in the summer of 1894. It Charter 
nieml)ers were: J. C. Bryson, B. W. Griffith, John D. Gilland, Jacob Gusdofer, D J Shlen- 
ker, 0. R. McFarland, Roliert U. Just, A. L. 
Jaquitli, Robert Sproule, R. C. Wilkerson, 
David Rice, J. D. Ijaughlin, O. S. Robbius, John 
J. Mulligan, A. Warner, J. ,M. A. Brennan, R. V. 
Booth, S. C. Ragan, Laz. Hirsch, Adolph Rose, 
R. L. Crook, W. S. Jones and J. A. Conway. 

The organization was completed July 20th, 
1895, bv electing the following Board of Direc- 
tors, viz : B. W. Griffitli, D. J. Shlenker, A. L. 
Jaquitli, R. L. Crook, Adolph Rose, Robert 
Sproule, Joliii 1). Gilland, C. R. McFarland and 
W. S. Jones. 

The following were electe<l officers of the As- 
.sociation for the first year: B. \V. Griffith, Pres- 
ident; J. D. Gilland, Vice-President; A. Warner, 
Treasurer; J. C. Bryson, Secretary and Attorney. 

At the end of the first year, W. S. Jones and C. 
R. McFarland retired from the directorate, and 
George B. Hackett and J. D. Laughlin elected to 
fill their |ihices. 

The books of the Association were opened 
for subscription of stock August 1st, 1894. Since 
tlien, three series have been opened and over 
seven hundred shares of stock liave been sub- 
scribed. Tlie assets of the Associatian exceed 
twelve thousand dollars, and its loans outstand- 
ing amount to ten tliousand dollars. Mr. B. W. Griffith. 




Sl'ICCIAL FEATURES. 



The Association sets apart ten percent, of its income to pay off cancelled and ma- 
tured stock. This is a safe guarantee to the holders of stock that they can convert the 
same into cash whenever they so desire. 

The Secretary and the Treasurer of tlie Association are each required to give bond 
to the Association to be made by some safe and approved guarantee company in a sum 



110 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 





Residence of Mk. A. Warner. 




UlCSIUEMli OK Mics. Lkk Ku hakd.sux. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



Ill 



exceeding any amount of money they are likely to have on hand at any one time, condi- 
tioned that tliey each will faitiifuUy perform the duties of their respective offices. 

To the end that no officer or director may be unduly retained in office, the by-laws 
provide that no officer or director shall vote any stock except his own at any election in 
the Association. 

THE MANAGEMENT. 

It is the purpose of the management to be conservative at all times, and yet as lib- 
eral as possible in the bounds of strict conservatism, the object being to offer to investors 
a safe and remunerative means of investment for their capital, and to borrowers liberal 
terms, easj' payments, and reasonably cheap rates of interest. 

From the day of its organization, the success of this institution has been phenomi- 
nal. The character of the men who organized it, was a guarantee of success, and the 
integrity and business capacity of its present management warrant the continuance of its 
prosperity for many years to come. President Griffith, who is also President of the First 
National Bank, is one of the most capable and widely known financiers of the State, whose 
management of the affairs of the institution has been characterized by tlie same solicitude 
and attention to details which have won him such an enviable rejiutation among the bank- 
ers of the commonwealth. 

Mr. J. C. Bryson, the Secretary and Attorney of the company, a self-made man, a 
hard student and justly regarded as a rising meralaer of the bar, is also an excellent ac- 
countant and pi-actical business man. He has acquired the entire confidence of the com- 
munity during his professional career, and is considered a model secretary. 



Dr. H. B. Wilson, 
City Physician. 



H.J. Trowbridge, 
City Clerk. 



Abe Kieksky, 

City Assessor. 




/ 






> 










Capt. John Gkoome. 

City Marshal. 



R. \'. Booth, 

City Attorney. 



Pkof. C. p. Kemper, 

Supt, Public School* 



112 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 




Residence of Dk. R. A. Quin. 





^^BMBHMJI^^ r!«^.~ - - 




^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Bt"''* ' "^-JKSSt^^^ 










-^^•^^^^«^*b-;fc'^« 


WP*-^ 




• . 



Residence of Mr. John Cckphev. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



113 



THE PRESS. 

The newspaper world has always been an interesting field of activity in Vicksburg 
and not a few of its editors have attained eminence in their profession. At an early jieriod 
in the history of the city and before the day of the Associated press and its rivals in the 
art of news-gathering, Vicksbnrg Ijad journals which were a power in the State and in this 
respect it is still the intellectual centre of the commonwealth. 

The Vicksliurg Printing and Publishing Company, the leading and largest publi.=hers 
in the State, and proprietors of the Commercial Herald, daily and weekly, occujiies the 
three story brick building 411, West Crawford street, which is exclusively devoted to its 
liusiness, embracing the three departments of job and book printing, book-binding, anil 
the newspaper. The officers of the company are: G. W. Rogers, President; William 
Groome, Business Manager and Secretary; J." S. McNeily, Editor; T. W. Campbell, Alan- 
aging Editor. The Directors are: G. W. Rogers, William Groome, T. W. Campbell and 
C. 0. Willis. 

The three de- 
partments give 
employment to 
forty -five i>er- 
sons, including 
the newspaper 
force. A very 
large business is 
transacted in 
each depart- 
ment, and the 
company has 
contracts with 
many counties of 
the State for fur- 
nishing blank 
l>ooks, station- 
ery, etc., for 
whose manufac- 
ture it has un- 
surpassed facili- 
ties, enabling it 
to compete to ad- 
vantage with the 
larirest foreign 
]iulilishers. 

The Commer- 
cial Herald is the 
leading journal 
of the State, and 
the only one tak- 
ing the full Asso- 
ciated Press dis- 
patches. (Juite 
recently, it has 
]iut in three 
.M e r g e n t h a 1 e r 
lineotype ma- 
chines, now in 
successful 0]ier:i- 
tion,i)reliminary 
to enlarging the 
jiaper and adopt- 
ion of other 
m o de rn im- 
jirovements. In 
this respect it 
has taken the 
initiative .among 
the papers of the 
State, ami <lem- 
o n s t r a t e d its 
progressive n e s s 
in a most practi- 




114 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 




Residence of Mk. Juiin A. Klicix. 




ci=r.i^liiMiiiMiiiiiiiif<nmiiTTWiBlfiWllliniii"i i' , 




Residbnik of Mk. Joiix O. Ca.siimax. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 115 

cal manner. In politics, the Commercial Herald is Democratic, staunchly supporting the 

National Administration, and upholding the principles of the party with vigor and deter- 
mination. It has also been for years a leading factor in the agricultural and industrial 
development of the State, lias thrown all its influence toward the encouragement of immi- 
gration, and is justly regarded as the organ of the progressive element, now so largely 
in the ascendency, "in promoting material and intellectual growth by the encourage- 
ment of the manufacturing, financial, educational and religious institutions of the com- 
monwealth. 

Besides the Commercial Herald, Yicksburg boasts a creditable evening daily. The 
Post, whose columns always afford crisp and interesting reading and which enjoys a very 
lilieral patronage. Tlie paper occupies handsome and commodious quarters on West Craw- 
ford street. Its editor, ^Ir. John G. Cashman, is one of the veteran publishers of tlie 
State and a writer of liold and original views, wielding a pen which is notable for its vigor. 
Ill politics the Post is Democratic. It is i)ul)lished every day except Sunday. 

There are numerous weeklies, among which the Democrat is of chief importance. It 
is published every Saturday, by Mrs. Clem Davis, and has a considerable circulation in the 
city as well as the country. 

The S juthland, a weekly journal, edited and published by Judge Speed, is devoted to 
the encouragement of immigration and the fostering of industrial enterprises, a task to 
which its cultivated and aide editor has devoted great labor and attention. 




ppendix. 



The ailvantages possessed by Vicksburg, in point of location, climate and facilities of 
communication, as set forth in the foregoing pages, cannot, it is believed, fail to receive 
the attention of men accustomed to consider such matters. It has been shown that the 
city is tlie natural commercial centre of a large and fertile territory within the confines of 
Mississippi and penetrated by the lines of tlie Illinois Central System, but this is true also 
of a no less attractive region to the east and, with which it is brought into easy and rapid 
coiiiiiiuuicationby the Alabama & Vicksburg, and the Vicksburg, Shreveport ct Pacific rail- 
roads, which are divisions of the Queen & Crescent System. From each of these the city 
draws a rich triljute. 

The fanner, stock-raiser or truck-grower, wdierever he may seek for a location, can 
find no better country under the sun than the uplands of Jlississippi and the low lands of 
Louisiana, penetrated for more than three hundred miles by the Queen & Crescent Route. 

The town of Edwards, about thirty miles east of Vicksburg, is one of the truck- 
growing centres of Mississippi, and those who would care to see this pursuit in its perfec- 
tion, need no better examples than are aflbrded by its thrifty population, whose intensive 
system of cultivation has jiroven extremely jirofitable. Edwards ships consideralile fruit 
to the Northern markets, and many varieties of vegetables also, but its specialty is early 
tomatoes, which are shii)iied in large quantities. One crop succeeds another, however, so 
rai)idly uniler the system of these wide-awake cultivators that it is difficult to say wdiich 
is entitled to be of the greatest imjiortance. It is a common practice with them to begin 
the year with a crop of Irish potatoes, follow this up with corn and fielil peas on the same 
land, and in the fall set out cabbage plants on the plot, to be followed in January or Feb- 
ruary with potatoes again. Under this system the returns from an acre of land are surpris- 
ingly large. 

Edwards was the pioneer town on the Alabama & Vicksburg Railroad in this indus- 
try, Init others are following its example, and all along the route of the road, cheap lands 
wnere similar results may be obtained when in the hands of experienced men, may be 
found by the immiirrant. The most liberal facilities of transjiortation are accorded liy tlie 
railroad, which is fully alive to the importance of encouraging this industry by giving low 
rates. 

The parishes of North Louisiana through which the road passes, are wonderfully 
adapted to every variety of agricultural enterprise, as well as stock-raising. Since this 
country was redeemed from overflow by the construction of the present massive levees its 
development has been much stimulated. The soil of the alluvial parishes through which 
the road passes, is similar to that of the Delta in all respects, and its topography is of the 
same character. The climate and productions are practically the same, and cleared land is 
both abundant and cheap. 



116 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



SOCIAL TREATMENT OF NEW COMERS. 




^^^*5*OhERE is no country under the sun where strangers are more 
s J s t » I hospitably received than in the South and it is difficult for a 
■■r native to seriously take to heart the fact that a contrary 
opinion has arisen in some portions of the country. All the 
instincts of the people tend towards the exercise of the most 
genial hospitality and this has been experienced by so many 
Northern visitors that it is surprising that they should have 
ever been criticised on this score. The fact that in the past 
many of the most beloved public men of this section were 
Northern men should count for something it would seem — 
notably in Mississippi, the celebrated S. S. Prentiss. At the 
present time many favorite citizens of this immediate section 
are Northern men and ex-Union soldiers. Among these in 
the delta may be mentioned Dr. A. J. Phelps, of Sharkey 
county; who was (ten. Grant's chief surgeon; and Col. F. L. 
Maxwell, of Madison parish, La.; now president of the Fifth 
Louisiana lioard of levee commissioners, both of them citizens 
who are on the most cordial terms with the people of their 
adopted communities. These are but a few among many who 
might be named, and it may be taken for granted that in the 
South, and in this j)art of it especially, other things being 
eiiual, a stranger from the West is just as sure of a friendly reception as though he came 
from the next county or fi-om any Southern State. After he becomes known his position 
in the estimation of the community depends, here as elsewhere, entirely upon himself. If 
he is a good man lie will be rated accordingly, if otherwise he will find his level. On no 
other con<litions is association between human beings possible. Here, as in ever)- country, 
civilized or barljarous, a man to have friends must show himself friendly and may depend 
upon receiving the consideration he metes out to others. It is taken for granted that 
every respectible-appearing man is a decent, well-behaved person until he shows himself 
otherwise and this is quite as much, it would seem, as any self-respecting man would ask. 
It is very true that letters of introduction count for something, as has been the case ever 
since writing was invented, and that men of similar views and tastes usually harmonize 
most rapidly, but neither religion nor politics is a bar to any man's good standing in the 
community. Some allowance must be made, of course, for ditt'erences in social customs, 
which are not tlie same in all parts of the United States, it need scarcely be said. In 
sparsely settled localities visiting is perhaps but rarely indulged in — this is in fact fre- 
ijuently the case — and the new-comer may imagine that he is being frozen out when in fact 
there is no difference in his treatment and that accnnled other neighbors who may have 
been such for half a century, and who are upon the friendliest terms with the entire popu- 
lation. A little observation will soon demonstrate this to the satisfaction of the stranger 
and he will discover also that not one of his neighbors but is ready to display, spon- 
taneously and naturally, the friendliest spirit in those kindly offices that one family may 
be expecteil to remler to another and such attentions as bespeak and proclaim good-will. 
It should lie su]>erHous to speak in the loregoing strain, in view of the kindly relations 
between all sections of the country at the present time, at least, and of the ties of tdood 
and friendship linking so many of their inhabitants together. 

An incident of actual occurence in Vicksburg may be mentioned as indicative of the 
kindly spirit ol the ]>eople. A year or two since tramps were unusually numerous and 
arrests for vagrancy became frecjuent. Whether justified in this course or not, the people 
adopted the idea that these prisoners were nothing more or less than men seeking em- 
ployment and unfortunate instead of culpalde, and such a protest was made against their 
incarceration that they were liberated without exception and no more arrests were made. 
It must be said, however, that these tramps, if tram])S they were, behaved well, very few 
giving any occasion for arrest for crime or misdemeanor, though some thousands of them 
must have passed through the city <luriiig the winter. 

INDUSTRIES THAT WOULD PAY IN VICKSBIRG. 

The list of Vicksburg's industries at the present time is a comprehensive one, ranging 
from the railroad shops, the cotton-seed oil mills and saw-mills and wood-working estab- 
lishments— previously mentioned— down through lesser enterprises in great variety, to all 
of which due attention has been paid in these jjages. It is undeniable, however, that 
many other profitable manufactures, not yet bcgim here, only await the advent of ex- 
perienced men with a moderate supply of (capital to repay the investor liberal returns. 
.Vmong these may be mentioned a factory for the manufacture of material for wagons, a 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



117 



furniture factory and barrel factory, to proceed no further in the list of industries for which 
the raw material is in abundant supply while the local demand alone is of considerable im- 
portance. Lumber for the manufacture of all these articles is close at hand and at 
low rates. Both hickory and white oak are plentiful for the manufacture of spokes, felloes 
and the liandles of imidements. The saw-mills are daily lamenting the fact that they have 
to sell for fuel much tine a.sli timber that would make excellent furniture of staple grades 
but whicli is too sliort for shijiment, and tlie same may be said of white oak and other 
excellent lumber. The freight alone on furniture, when brought from Northern factories, 
is sufficient to amount to a protective tariff' for the benefit of the local manufacturer. 
Material for the finest quality of furniture is not lacking, as there is much black walnut, 
cherry, etc., in this section, but reference is made to the style of goods used in the ordinary 
households, manufactured of oak, ash, poplar — also aliundant in this country— and similar 
cheap timber. A factory manufacturing such goods would find a profitable demand for its 
product in every town in Mississippi and Louisiana, to say nothing of other States reached 
by local lines of transportation. 

The demand for barrels for sugar, potatoes, etc., both in this State and Louisiana, 
is very large and Cottonwood lumber is :ui unexcelled material for their manufacture, being 
light, strong and very cheap. The timber is in inexhaustible supply within easy reach of 
the city by water routes, which admit of placing the logs immediately at the mill side. 
Cypress timber for molasses barrels is (juite as plentiful and besides the" demand for such 
barrels from the sugar plantations of Louisiana, every yearwitnesses an increased product- 
ion of sorghum and Louisiana molasses in this portion of Mississippi and North Louisiana. 

Boxes are already manufactured on a considerable scale to su]>ply the local demand , 
for shipping I)acon and dry salt meats, but as yet no one has embarked in the manufacture 
of shooks, for packing case and canned goods and similar articles recjuiring small packages. 
Cottonwood is eminently suitable for these uses and there is no better shipping-point in 
the South for such products. 

Last, but of prime importance and heretofore referred to in this publication, may be 
mentioned the manufacture of cotton goods, for which the city oflTers every length and 
quality of staple, abundant and intelligent labor, cheap fuel and unsurpassed shipping 
facilities. The successful mills throughout the South, under conditions in many instances 
much less favorable, aflbrd convincing evidence that cotton mills would lie profitable en- 
terprises here. 

In connection with the foregoing points it is worthy of rememberance that factories 
turning nut ;\ finished iimdurt are exempt from taxation in this State. 




Residence of Ma.t. T. G. Dabney. 



118 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 




Sketches Auou.nd Vrksbli;g. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



119 



OIL ^ND LIJ^IBER i:^DUSTR~^. 



THE REFUGE OIL MILL. 

The Refuge Oil Mill, owned and operated by the Refuge Oil Mill Company; P. 



M. 



Harding, president; E. ^l. Durham, secretar}' and manager; was founded many years ago 
by the late Col. Ed. Richardson and originally occupied a site on his Refuge plantation, on 
tiie Jlississippi river aliove this city. It was removed to its present location, on the river 
near Kleinston about two miles l)elow the city, and has since been enlarged and improved, 
the latest type of macliinery put in, including every imaginable labor-saving device and an 
exceptionally perfect service for protection against tire, so that it is considered one of the 
most complete mills in the South. It has a large wharfboat for receiving shipments by 




1. iNTKiaoR OF PuEss Koo.M. 2. General View of Mill Lookinxi South. 

river and is on a switch connecting it with tlie Yazoo ct Mississippi Valley Railroad and its 
shipping facilities could not tlierefore be improved upon. It crushes 90 tons of seed 
daily and its product, through the perfection of its manufacture, ranks very high in the 
market. The present manager, Mr. Durliam, is considered one of tlie most expert manu- 
facturers in the Southern States. The Refuge mill is the oldest in tliis section and has a 
wide-spread acquaintance and connection, and a most enviable reputation, both with pro- 
ducers of seed and with consumers of its products. It has ample capital, carries a large 
stock of seed in season and is usually in active operation ten months annually. It em- 
ploys one hundred men, including its ofhce force. 



120 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



THE VICKSBURG OIL MILL. 

The Vicksburg Oil Mill, puivliaseil u yt-ar af;o from a local company by Lever 
Bros., limited ; of London, England, and since immensely enlarged in point of its Imildings 
and its crushing capacity, is situated on the nortliwest corner of Depot and Levee streets, 
between the tracks of the Yazoo & JIississiiii)i Valley and the Alabama i*i Vicksburg( Queen 
& Crescent route) Railways and on tlie lianks of the Yazoo river canal, so that it enjoys the 
most perfect contiguity to lines of rail and water transportation. It occupies witli its 
manufacturing department and its warehouses, the latter the largest in the city, nearly 
the space of a block. The company has just completed a warehouse, chiefly of lirick and 
well-nigh tire-proof, 75 by 270 feet and has accumulated a very large stock of seed which it 
is now converting into oil, cake, linters, etc. The present capacity of the mill is easily two 
hundred tons daily and this vast mass of raw material, it may be observed, is almost ex- 
clu.sively handled by machinery after it is taken from the sacks, so that the seed is scarcely 
touclied from the time it leaves these nntil the kernels reduced to meal are sacked again to 
be pressed. Notwithstanding these labor-saving devices the mill employs 150 hands. It 
is pronounced by competent judges, who have given it careful inspection, tlie best equipped 
mill in the South, having all tlie modern machinery. It has also its own trained fire brigade 
and is, moreover, provided with the automatic sprinkling system. Twelve powerful 
hydraulic presses, with their full complement of gins, and hulling and crushing apparatus 
and a magnificent battery of boilers are comprised in the plant, which has been fitted out 
with a judicious liberality wortliy of the great firm, said to be tlie largest soap manufact- 
urers in the world, that has it in its possession. An excellent view of the exterior of the 
mill from which some idea of its proportions may be obtained, is presented in this article. 
The mill is lighted throughout with electricity, and as oil mills are run night and day and 
with double crews it is necessary that they should be perfectly illuminated. The installa- 
tion of the entire plant and the general perfection of every detail of its operation is such as 
to reflect the utmost credit upon the enterprise of the proprietors and the able management 
of Mr. Streuby, n ho has modeled the internal arrangements on those of the best and 
largest mills of the day, with valuable modifications suggested by his matured experience. 
It is the admiration of all practical mill men and the most gratifying economical results 
are predicted for it by such experts in the trade. 

Tlie entire product of this gigantic plant is shipped to the home company's works at 
Port Sunlight, Birkenhead, England. 




The Mill Looking North. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



121 




il.MN StREKT Pl'BLIf S'CIIOOI.. 



THE HILL CITY OIL MILL. 

The Hill City Oil Mill, T. M. Suiedes, president and iiuiiia.ser; occupies the large 
three-story brick building on tlie nortli-east corner of Wasliington and Jackson streets, as 
well as the adjacent warehouses immediately on tlje north, and transacts a large business 
with cattle-feeders and agriculturists in their tinishetl products, which arc of unexcelled 
quality. The mill is in steady operatfon, night and day, for nine or ten months annually, 
upon an average, the season varying sliglitly in lengtli according to the supply of seed. It 
enjoys a large patronage among shiijpers of seed and payiuL' the highest market prices is 
always able to command a full supply of the raw material. The Imilding is filled with the 
latest type of machinery and its capacity is second to tliat of no mill of its size. The mill 
has proven a profitable enterprise for its stockholders, who are among the most prominent 
business men in the city. Recently the comjiany has made sul>stantial repairs on iis 
building, while its equipment of machinery for handling and manufacturing tlie seed is of 
the highest perfection known to the trade. The seed used is purcliased largely from Delta 
planters, though the company also buys heavily from the country wagons which ply the 
roads continually during the season botli from tliis county and from points many miles in 
the interior. This branch of the trade is made a specialty. The mill gives employment to 
about fifty persons, including a large quota of experienced operatives, to whose skill the 
success of the enterprise is attributalile in great degree and who have the fullest apprecia- 
tion of the management, as attested by their long service at the mill. 

Some of the largest cattle-feeders in this section draw their supplies from this mill, 
whicb is one of the oldest in the State, though only a few years under its present organiza- 
tion and management. It ships large quantities of oil, oil cake, ashes and linters, both to 
American and foreign markets. The value of cotton seed products as food for man and 
beast is scarcely fully appreciated as yet, though the demand for all purposes shows a 
handsome annual increase. To what proportions it may yet attain, in view of the steady 
increase in the number of cattle fed for the Northern markets, chiefly on cotton seed meal 
and hulls, and of the growing use of the meal as a fertilizer, it would lie rash to say, but 
the most experienced feeders and agriculturists have nothing but praises for these pro- 
ducts and predict that the supply must he largely increased to meet the wants of the 
country. Thanks to the establishment of such mills as the Hill City, the cotton fields now 
produce nothing that is wasted, except tlie stalks. 



/ 



122 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



THE CIRPHEY-WOOLEN LT MBER COMPANY. 

TiiK CiKriiEY-AVooLLEN Li.MBER COMPANY, manufacturers of cypress, Cottonwood and 
liard wood lumljer, and large exporters of quarter-sawed a,*h, occupj- with their mills, which 
are equipped with machinery of the best modern type, an eligible site on the east bank of 
Lake Centennial, about one half mile north of the city, and immediately west of the 
main track of the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Kailroad. The advantages of this situa- 
tion were early appreciated by the predecessors of the present company, as aflbrding ample 
room for their yards, and deep water at all seasons for storing logs, which are floated 
directly up to the mill, in a land-locked and currentless lake, lleans of transportation, 
either by land or water routes, are of course in the closest contact with the plant. The 
capacity of the mills is .")(),(IU(I feet per diem. The company gives emiiloymeut to a 
force 01 7.T men, including those employed in cutting timlier, and has Ijuilt up a large 
traile with the Northern markets for its products, which include the finest grades of white 
oak and white ash timber. It also supplies a very considerable local demand. Its mana- 
ger, Mr. William Curphej', is regarded as one of the most experienced and able mil! men 
in the South, and to his close personal supervision of afl'airs and his deep acquaintance with 
the tiudjer trade, the company is chiefly indebted for its gratifying degree of success. 

Its sources of supply are the immense forests of liard wood and cypress timber of the 
Delta, which being within easy reach of the Yazoo river and its navigable tributaries, are 
floated from the stump to the mills, at a minimum outlav for transportation. Cottonwood 
timber, in which the firm rejiorts an increasing traile. both for local and foreign ((insum)!- 
tion, is also derivetl from the shores of the Mississipjii river. Large quantities of thi.s 
timber are converted by the firm into packing cases and 1>oxes for salt meats, for which 
purposes the tindjer is admirably adapted. 

The company's facilities for handling and cutting timber at tlie lowest cost cannot 
be excelled, and the revival of the timber trade under the stimulus of better times, has 
created a steady demand for all its output. It has ample capital, and as a live, energetic 
firm, thoroughly reliable in all its dealings, and jealous of the reputation of its product, 
is nsponsilde for a large sliare of the increased favor with Northern consumers are regard- 
ing tile hard wood of this section. 




View of Mill From Mississippi Kivek. 



CURPHEY & MUNDY. 




Inteuiok of Woukshop. 




CuRPHEY & MuNDY's MlLL. 



124 PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 

CI RPHEY & MIXDY. 

As manufacturers of sash, door and blinds and a great variety of miscellaneous 
wood work, Curi-hev & Mundy are no less pre-eminent than as master builders and con- 
tractors, in which capacity they have achieved a most enviable reputation. Reliability is 
the watchword of the firm, and its honest, durable and thoroughly artistic work has stood 
every test, including the crucial one of time. Its factor)', of which views are given here, 
is a hive of industry, supplying a large local and shipping demand for its products, and 
employing a considerable force of skilled mechanics, including some whose qualifications 
entitle them to rank as artists. The firm carries an immense stock of selected lund)er, 
including special and unusual dimensions and all sorts of fine native woods. 

Among the edifices which it has constructed, may be mentioned man)- of the most 
imposing residences in the city, tho.se of Messrs. A. Warner, W. L. Wells and A. Baer, 
being a few of these. The staircase of Mr. Well's house is regarded as the finest specimen 
of carved work in the city. It is made of native white oak, exquisitely finished, and was 
executed in every particular by Curphey & Mundy's workmen. The firm have just com- 
pleted for the same residence, a handsome Porte Cocherf', unique in its details of press 
l)rick, Georgia marble caps, encaustic tile floors, and elegant Norman columns, as well as a 
superb piece of Moorish fretwork in native oak of original design, forming a division lie- 
tween the dining and ordinary room. Oak and ash office furniture, counters, etc., are also 
manufactured by this firm, and its products vie in finish with the finest imjiorted cabinet 
work. Its designs are invarialily unique and tasteful withal, and consequently this 
branch of operations has attained a high degree of ]>o|uilarity, and has practically termi- 
nated the importation of such articles. In addition to its manufacturing force, the firm 
gives employment to a large numl)er of carpenters, and is justly regarded as a bulwark 
of the building trades. 

THE SPENGLER MAM FACTIRING ( OMPANY. 

The Spengler ^Manufacturing Company is one of the oldest lumbering firms in this 
section, dating its foundation back nearly fifty years, and among the largest, its operations 
(luring the life-time of the founder of the house, the late Mr. S. Spengler, of this city, being 
on the largest scale, while at present it is even more extensively engaged in the production 
and manufacture of cyjiress, pine and cottonwooil lumlier. It has a very considerable mill 
for cutting cypress and cottimwood timber on the east bank of Lake Centennial, within a 
mile of the •■ity; where the logs are floate<l to the mill side and where it has a railroad 
switch and ample yard-room ; it also owns a large mill in the yellow pine belt, at Forest, 
Miss., with a daily capacity of 25,000 feet, that of the home mill being 35,000 daily, and it 
controls the output of several other mills of considerable proportions, also cutting yellow 
pine. For some time past the tiriii has been exporting a considerable proportion of its out- 
put, after supplying a large local demand, but the conjjiletion of its new sash, I)lind and 
door factory and the installation of a new and improved plant for the manufacture of 
finished products is rapidly changing all that and in future the major portion of its cut will 
he converted into tinishing stuff', in wliich the firm enjoyed an immense trade until the 
destruction of its factory by fire, some years ago. The new factory, the fourth built by the 
firm, is situated on Washington street, in the extreme northern portion of the city, and is 
surrounded by extensive yards. Two other yards covering half a Ijlock, are located on 
Monroe street and are stocked with large supplies of seasoned lumber. The factory plant 
is a very complete one and contains no macliinery that is not of the most improved type. 
As an instance it may he mentioned that a door machine is the third of its kind in opera- 
tion in the United States and the first in the South. The capacity of this machine when 
in full operation will be eight hundred doors a day and members of the firm say it will 
reduce the cost of making a door to about one-fourth the present expense. The sash and 
blind machines, however, are no less perfect and the production of the factory will far 
exceed those of one employing as many or even more liands and equipped witli ohl- 
fashioned machinery. 

In addition to its immense production of lumber the Spengler Manufacturing Com- 
pany turns out large quantities of pine and cypress laths and shingles. It exports north- 
ward a great deal of cottonwood timber, besides working up almost as large a quantity into 
boxes, and no firm has done more to firing this excellent, but until recently under-rated 
timber into prominence and popularity with the tra<le. Its supplies of cypress and cotton- 
wood timber are drawn wholly from the delta, where the forests, especially of the latter, 
which is rapidly reproduced from the seed, are practically inexhaustible. Xo mills any- 
where have better facilities for receiving logs or shipping the finished product and to these 
advantages, supplemented by a due degree of energy and enterprise, are attributable the 
firm's success in the trade, which has been such as is creditable to its members and bene- 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



125 



ficial to the city by giving employment to a considerable force of skilled operatives. With 
its large capital, kept actively at work, the development of the city's lumber industry may 
be reasonabl}' expected to keep pace with, if it does not outstrip, any other productive 
industry. As yet the bu.siness is in its infancy, a vigorous and progressive infancy, but 
still a period of immaturity, however hopeful or certain, as the case really is, of phenomenal 
development. The demand upon Southern forests is increasing daily, however, as the 
Northern supplies become exhausted or diminished and witli such a magnificent woodland 
as the Yazoo-Mississippi delta to draw upon and with such firms as tlie Spengler Manu- 
facturing Co., well endowed witli capital, technical knowledge and energy, to watch every 
point of vantage and press forward, disregarding tlie old ruts and intent upon pushing 
Southern timber interests to tlie front, this demand may be confidently expected to ex- 
hibit a marvelous growth, now that prosperity once more reigns from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific and from the (iulf of Mexico to the great lakes. As stated in another place, the 
construction of tlie Yazoo river canal will give a great impetus to Vicksl)urg's lumlier trade 
by facilitating the handling of logs, as well as their storage. The firms having eligible sites 
on the shores of Lake Centennial will reap an immense advantage from this and none more 
than the one which is the subject of this sketch. 

The present proprietors of the Spengler Manufacturing Co., are practical and thorough 
mill-men and manufacturers, versed not only in the mysteries of their daily work, but 
entirely familiar with the wants of the trade, both in this city and section and in the 
Northern market.--. Tlieir experience constitutes a rich fund upon wliich to draw and the 
past has shown that it has been freely used and with advantage to tlie interests of all 
persons concerned. 




CONTRACTOR & BUILDER 

Dealer in .Sash, Blinds, Mouldings, Dressed Lumber, Shingles, Laths, House Furnishings. 



126 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



Tl?2 ^oal Industry. 



The coal industry of Vicksburg is fittingly represented by Peatross, Cameron 
& Co., Wholesale and Retail Coal Dealers, and the proprietors of " Vicksburg's First Class 
Coaling Station," which was established by JIattingly, Flowerree& Co., in IMtiti. 

Mattingly, Flowerree & Co., were succeeded in 1879 by Mattingly. Son & Co., who 
were succeeded by Peatross, Cameron & Co. in 1800. 

The firm is now. as it has been for many years, the Vicksburg house of ,Tno. A. Wood 
& Son, of Pittsl)urg, Pa., who are heavily interested in the nuning of coal, and who have 
their own towboats to bring their fleets of coal to Vicksburg, Baton Kouge and New Orleans. 
Peatross, Cameron tt Co., carry constantly in stock large quantities of the very best 
grades of Pittsburg, Alabama and Anthracite Coal, which is always sold at the lowest 
market rates. They have their own tugboats and barges, and besides doing the river trade 

exclusively at Vicksliurg they have a good 
business in the towing of raft.s of timber, 
staves and other heavy freights. They also 
do the bulk of the city trade in supplying 
domestic and steam coal to residences, 
factories, etc. A special item, ahvaj's in 
the stock of the firm, is a superior quality 
of Pittsburg coal, not excelled by any 
other coal for domestic, steam or smithing 
purposes, which can be promptly shipped 
on short notice, by the barrel, hogshead, 
carload, barge or l)oatload. 

Capt. John A. Wood, head of these 
enterprises, is a resident of Pittsburg, of 
which city be is a native. He is a self- 
made man, foremost in the business of 
handling tows and coal Heets, and one of 
the leading coal ojierators of that greatest 
of all centers of the coal trade. 

Mr. Samuel L. Wood is the oldest 
son of Capt. John A. Wood. He is also a 
native of Pittsburg, a?ld a resident there. 
Although a young man. he is one of the 
most active and energetic business men of 
his city, in which lie has made himself a 
name. Wood, Bodley & Co., of Baton 
Rouge, and Wood, Schneidau <fc Co.. of 
New Orleans, are also branches of the Jno. 
A. Wood & Son concern. 

Messrs. A. C. Peatross and John JI. 
Cameron are the resident partners and 
local managers of the firm. 

Mr. Peatross is a native of Virginia, 
Viut has been a resident of Mis.sissippi since 
1870. He owns valuable propertj' in 
Vicksburg, also in Louisiana, where he is 
largely interested in planting. He is a 
member of the present Legislature of the 
State of Mississippi and an active member of the Vicksburg Board of Trade. He has been 
associated with the coal trade of Vicksl)urg since 1889. 

Mr. Cameron is a native of Warren County, Mississippi, having been born and reared 
W'itbin a few nules of Vicksburg. He has been continuously connected in the coal business 
with the present firm and its predecessors since April of 187:;. In connection with his 
position in the coal business he has served as Treasurer of Warren County for the past ten 
years, having been elected to the office for four consecutive terms. His iiresent term of 
office as County Treasurer expires at the close of the present year. ^Ir. Cameron is the 
Democratic nominee to represent the City of Vicksburg on the County Board of Supervisors 
for the next ensuing four years. 




Joii.N M. Ca.merox. 



THE COAL INDUSTRY. 



127 




The Tuii Joe Seay. — Peatross, Cameron A Co. 



128 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



W. 0. WORKELL k CO. 



^ The lonj; established house of \V. U. Wokrhll li Co., having its office at the corner 
of Washinpton and South streets, and its larfre and commodious warehouse on Levee 
street, deals exclusively in hay, grain, feed stufTs and buildin-r materials, in which it has 
developed an immense city trade in addition to a still healthier sliipping business, both 
to river points and with the interior. Lime, cement, plaster, hair, tire brick, etc., are 
among its specialties. Its warehouse is situated between the tracks of the Yazoo & Mis- 
si^ssippi Valley and A. & V. and V. S i<i P. Railroads, also fronting immediately on the 
Yazoo river canal ; the firm being the first to see and seize upon the advantages accruing 
to shippers by tliis favorable loc-ation. which enables it to handle its stock at a minimum 
expense, and consequently to- compete on the most advantageous terms with the largest 
dealers in any market. Cars are loaded and unloaded at either door of the warehonse, 




Vricu (IF W'AitEiiorsE Fro.m the Y. A M. \'. Kaii.koah Tkacks. 



stretching from street to street, and steamers in the canal are loaded or discharged with 
the same facility. Tlie ordinary heavy expense of drayage is thus saved the firm and its 
patrons. The house is one of the oUlest in the city, and enjoys the confidence of a large 
and increasing trade. In addition to those alrea<ly mentioned, tlie firm has among its 
specialties, seed rye and rust proof oats, which are in large demand, as experience has 
shown tliat seed reliable in other qualities and free from contamination with the germs of 
noxious or other objectionable plants and weeds is always to be obtained at its hands. By 
such methods, and in short by the unremitting attention to the wants of its customers, 
the firm has sustained a most enviable reputation, while its liberality has won it their 
personal regard. 




Mefchants National Bank. 



To write the history of the Merchants ^at_,onal 
Bank s ahnost to write the n.odern Instory ol Mek - 
Imrk because during the past ten years almos all 
n the enterprises and institutions which make 
Yicksbur, the bustling busy little '•>/>• -ts.ejs 
have been incorporated and tinislied, and Uu; otti- 
cers- id stockholders of the Merchants J^ational 
B nk roiu first to last have been identified with 
He 11 all. Anv grou,. of American citizens who 
,1 1 with the laws can easily organize a National 
a k with one hundred thonsaml dollars capital, 
but ocarrv that bank safely through the first .le- 
cade o ts existence, double its ca,ntal, pay its 
stockholders sem-annual dividen.ls all the time of 
ten per cent., per annum, and run its deposits up, 
arti.es to a half million dollars, requires he care- 
ful si Vew.iness, wisdom and capacity ^yltll which 
le lanagementof the Merchants National Bank 
s endowed; the officers an.l clerical force of this 
ank are imbued with a spirit ol carefu ness and 
nol teness No detail of the business is allowed to 
ni it e ri.ut is looked after and " hustled up to 
as uiiVe its proper share in the aggregate of success 
The business of Individuals, Merchants and 
Banks is respectfully solicited. 

10 



130 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



B. W. GKIFFITH. 

President. 



J M IMin.T,IPS, 

Cashier. 



J^EM^T ^^Timm^E. ^^MM^ 



Capital, $100,000.00 
Surplus, 20,000 00 



DOES A GENERAL BANKING BUSINESS IN ALL ITS BRANCHES. 



Federal, State, County and Municipal 



BONDS BOUGHT AND SOLD. 



Exchange Sold on alt the Principal Cities of Europe. 



DIRECTORS. 



AUSTIN WARNER, Merchant, President of Warner & Searles Co.. Clothiers. 

M. DABNEY, Lawyer, of Dabney & McCabe, Attorneys at Law. 

LOUIS HOFFMAN, Capitalist, President of Louis Hoffnnan Hardware Co. 

ROBERT ERNST, Jeweler and Capitalist. 

ADOLPH ROSE. Merchant, Wholesale and Retail Dry Goods 

R. L. CROOK. Merchant, Wholesale Gtocer and Cotton Factor. 

B. W. GRIFFITH, President 

R. W. MILLSAPS, of Jackson, Miss., Capitalist ana President Capital State 

Bank, Jackson. 
S BLUM, of Delhi, La., General Merchant. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG 



181 



E. S. BUTTS, Piesident. 



H. C. KUYKENDALL, Vice Prest. 



ViCKSBURC Bank. 



ESTABLISHED 1866 




CONDITION OF THE VICKSBURC BANK AT THE CLOSE OF BUSINESS 

JULY 31, 1895. 



3 RESOURCES. 



LOANS AND DISCOUNTS * 163,9'^ 12 

REAL ESTATK • '94+2 >9 

U. S. BONDS 57,000 00 

SIGHT EXCHANGE 96.43649 

CASH BALANCE 73.75° A" 

$ 410,598 20 



^^ LIABILITIES, e 



CAPITAL PAID IN * 7S.0OO oo 

UNDIVIDKD PROFITS S.S™ °^ 

INDIVIDUAL DEPOSITS i 330,078 iS 

$ 410,598 20 



132 



PIOTUREPQUR VTCKSRURG. 



P. M. HARDING, 

President. 



J. HIRSH, 

Vice-President. 



S. S. PATTERSOX, 

Ass't Cashier. 






OF VICKSBURG. MISS 




Paid in Capital, $100,000.00. Surplus and Profits, $15,500.00. Organized Aug 1st 
1889. Paia Dividends in Six Years, $52,000.00. 

BANKING IN ALL OF ITS BRANCHES ; COLLECTIONS A SPECIALTY 

INTEREST ALLOWED ON SAVINGS DEPOSITS. 

State, County and Municipal Bonds, Domestic and Foreign 
Exchange Bought and Sold. 

YOUR ACCOUNT IS RESPECTFULLY SOLICITED. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



133 



\V. S.JONES, 

President. 



J. A. CONWAV, 



I Tr. as. 



J. n. GILLAND, 

Vice-Presii!ent. 



PEOPLES SAVINGS BANK AND LOAN COMPANY. 

ECOGNiziNG the great need lor a Depository for small sums 
in this community, a few prominent and successful business 
men organized in 1889 the institution known throughout 
this section as THE PEOPLES SAVINGS BANK AND 
LOAN CO. Beginning with a paid in capital of $50,000.00 
and no deposits, the Bank has gone steadily up grade, 
until at this date its Surplus Fund is ^10,000.00, it has paid 
Semi-annual Dividends since its organization of S% per 
Annum, and its Deposits amount to $120,000.00 divided 
among 320 depositors. The names of the gentlemen con- 
nected with this institution are sufficient to guarantee its 
stability, and its abundant success in the past is indicative 
of a brighter future. Polite and careful attention to small 
matters is a motto of this bank, and a feature of its manage- 
ment is that it requires a written approval of a majority of a 
Financial Committee of five members to make an invest- 
ment of its funds. The Bank publishes a monthly paper 
which is devoted to inculcating a spirit of saving among 
the people. 



■^Citizeiis Buildino ^ Loan Association >§<^ 




ORGANIZED APRIL 1st, 1886. 



OPEN BOTH TO WHITE AND COLORED. 



OFFICERS. 



President, 
Vice-President, 
Secretary, 
Treasurer, - 
Attorney, 

F. M. Andrews, 
James Mundy, 
H, C. McCabe, 



F, M. ANDREWS 

S A. COWAN 

GEO ANDERSON 

E S BUTTS 

- H. C McCABE 



DIRECTORS. 



Geo. Anderson. 



S. A Cowan. 
A. A Trescott 
M. Dabney 



Have 1,260 Sliares of Stocl< in force. $90,000 of Loans. 

Opens a Series twice a year, April and October. Have 
just opened the Twentietti Series 

Have Matured Two Series. 

The First Series has been paid off, and the Second has just 
matured 

A matured share is §200 00 

For further information address the Secretary and it will 
be cheerfully furnished. 



134 PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 

NEWYORKOFFICE: BOSTON OFFICE: 

22, 24, 26, HowAKD St. 122 Summeb St. 



ADOLPH ROSE, 



ONLY ONE PRICE 



Retail Dry Goods House in the City. 



WHOLESALE! 

pive pioors Devoted to Wholesale Exclusively. 



ADOIvPHROSB, 

312 CLAY STREET. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



135 



LOUIS HOFFMAN HARDWARE CO., 



- T3:e:.^Xj^z2s xxt - 



WAMB^-^^AK 



mprx, mw 







CUTLERY, GUNS, 



SADDLERY AND AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, 

Hoffman Block, Vicksburg, Miss. 



GUN REPAIRING DONE AND WARRANTED. 



136 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 




WARREN O. SMITH. 



GEO H SMITH. 



ESTABLISHED 1881. 



SMITH BROS., 

vpyvi^ix'VWWW WW VV'V'^VVVWVWW^ WVVYWW^V% 

WHOLESALE 

GRAIN, MEAL, FLOUR, 

PROVISIONS AND PRODUCE. 

CLOSE PRICES ON CAR LOAD LOTS 



^^S. SCHA^^^RZ & CO., ^e-^ 




Wholesale Grocers and Commission Merchants. 

SPECIAL ATTENTION PAID TO CONSIGNMENTS OF COTTON. ] 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



137 



Allen & Son, 




•|"franc\^ f Pamil^f (5Focerie8,4 



jio. 224 g. Washington gtreet. 



Keep always a full selection of the - 



BEST ARTICLES IN OUR LINE. 



Fresh Goods — Polite Attention — Prompt Delivery — Everything Guaranteed. 



138 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



^L. M. NICHOLSON CO.. 



<• 



Wholesale Grocers, ie>-^ 
*-^Mi Cotton Factors and j^~* 
i Commission Merchants. 1*^ 



; SPECIALTIES:: 



Bagging, Texas Rust Proof Oats, 

Ties, Feed Oats, 

Meats, Bran, 

Lard, and all Hay, Lime, 

Packing House Products, Cement. 



Produce, 
Fruits, 
Meal, 
Flour, Sugar, 
Cofiee and Molasses. 



All Mail Order Business treated with Care, Promptness 
and Close Prices. 



s. ;. siiiiiii 



WHOLESALE 



ANO 



■ - >i ♦ — • 

Liberal Advances Made on Cotton 
Consignments. 

I07 North Washington Street. 
VICKSBURC, MISS. 



Jno. B. Clarke. D. S. Wkight. 

BOOKSELLERS, 

*^Aiid Wall Paper Dealers,^ 

No. 120 Waihington Street. ■ ■ - Vickiburg. Miss 



BOOKS 

Musical iDstrumeots ^^. Aflist Materials 



HOLIDAY GOODS FANCY GOODS 



ARTISTIC 

Sheet M slZ'^,% Wedding Prese:ts 



WALL PAPER 

AND 
DECORATIONS 



ROOM 



Picture Frames 

and 
Mat> to Order 



SPORTING GOODS, BICYCLES, NEWSPAPERS 



zTa. 



SkND for CAT.VLOliUK .^Xl> PrICE.<. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



139 







— ^^HWHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEALERS IN-g^^— 

STA^PLE AND FANCY aROCERIES, 

^CIGARS AND TOBACCO. [> 



No 306 NORTH WASHINGTON STREKT.IE 



140 PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



^y^RNER & gEARLES ^, 



MERCHANT TAILORS 



■4 CLOTHING I 



4^at8 and (^^nt'^ Purnisbiiigg. 

SPECIALTIES: 

Dunlap and Miller Hats. 
Fisk, Clark & Flagg's Gloves. 
Risk, Clark & Flagg's Neckwear. 
Star Neglige Shirts and Underwear. 
Patent Elastic Seam Drawers. 

122 WASHIN&TDN STREET. 



BIEDEIMHARN CANDY MTC CO. 




The engravings on this page 
represent the three Con- 
fectionery stores owned by 
Biedenharn Candy M'fg Co., 
doing a wholesale and fancy 
retail Confectionery busi- 
ness, one of the largest 
manufacturers of its kind in 
the State. 



Cut No. 1 represents our 
strictly first class retail Con- 
fectionery and Restaurant. 
We make a specialty of ser- 
ving Banquets for Wed- 
dings, Entertainments, etc. 

Cut No 2 represents our 
Wholesale Department and 
Headquarters. 

Cut No. 3 represents our 
South Washington Street 
Retail Stand. 



142 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



J. W. SHORT, 

Wholesale and Retail Dealer in 

MONTEYALLO COAL, 

FANCY LUMP ALABAMA 
COAL. 
STOVE WOOD, 

ASH WOOD, 
HARD WOOD, 

COTTON WOOD 
AND KINDLLNG 

Foot of Jackson Street, 

Vicksburg, Miss. 



& 



JEWKLKBH 

- AND — 



•^LOAN BROKERS.'^ 



•^^J.« 



103 NORTH WASHINGTON STREET. 



WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEALER IH 

Fancy Groceries, 

CIGARS AND TOBACCO. 

226 SOUTH WASHINGTON STRfET. 

VICKSBURG, - - - MISSISSIPPI. 

TEI.EI'HOXE 238. 



p. p. Williams. 



W. H. Fnz-HuGH. 



P. P. WILLIAMS COMPANY, 

WHOLESALE GROCERS & COMMISSION MERCHANTS. 




A};eiits for Painter's Ties and Ludlow Bagging. 



VICKSBURG, MISS. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



143 



IS, Hj. d500:EZ cSz: co.,-«- 




Wholesale Grocers, I 






-<]SIMON STEIN,t> 



-PROPRIETOR- 



Msburg's I PalatiaU Furniture t House, 




Makes Vicks- 
burg as good and 
as fine a Furni- 
ture market as 
any Southern 
City. Carries al- 
ways a large, 
elegant and va- 
ried stock of . . 

-FUENITURE,. 

embrac i n g all 
woods and fin- 
isiies. Wholesale 
trade can find 
always plenty of 
goods and lowest 
prices. 



SIMON STEIN, 



J 12 Wlihington Siraat. 



rirpla&AlaliaiiiCoiilGo., 

MINERS OF 

Patton 

and 

Coal Valley 

COAL ! 

City Trade supplied from 

Yard South Madison &. Veto Sts. 

C. E. WILLIS, 



U4 



PICTURKSQrE VICKSBrRG. 



DELTA LANDS FOR SALE ! 



I OFFER FOR SALE TEN 
THOUSAND ACRES OF FINE 
TIMB ER LANDS ON. AND 
NEAR. THE LINE OF THE 
YAZOO & MISSISSIPPI VAL- 
LEY RAILROAD. IN BOLIVAR 
COUNTY. MISSISSIPPI. CON- 
TAINING OAK, ASH. HICK- 
ORY, ETC. Also a number of Im- 
proved Plantations and farms. 

Prices and Terms Reasonable. 

CHARLES SCOTT, Attorney at Law, 

Rosedale. Mississippi. 



ieeice: <2z cdo.^ 





Wright Bros., 

HARDWARE, 
STOVES m 
CROCKERY, 

Vicksburg, - Mississippi^ 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



145 



S. Waciienheim, I'rcst 
THE 



\V. S. Hanisek, Vice Prest. 



\V, O Mhngek, Sec'y & Ireas. 



HANISEE & MENGER FURNITURE CO.,^ 




300, 302 & 310 N. WASHINGTON ITREET. 

SPECIALTIES: 

Wall Paper, 
Window Shades, 
Lace Curtains, 
Picture Frames, 
Cooking Stoves. 

A Full Line Carried at all 

Times of Cheap and 

^tedium 

^FTTB.ITITTTB.B^ 

— AND— 

Housekeeping (loods. 

M BUY FOR SPOT CASH, f^^^j 
CLOSE PRICES. 

A Special Feature Made of the 

INSTALLMENT 
TRADE. 



ROB'T ERNST'S JEWELRY STORE, 




-^Diamonds, Watcties, Silverware, Pianos, Bronze and Bisque Ornaments.^* 

1 CORNER WASHINGTON AND CRAWFORD STS. 



146 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



ViCKSBURG Electric Light Company. 



'^ 


With its New and Most Improved 
Equipment of Machinery and a thor- 
ough Reconstruction of its Line Work, 
is prepared to Furnish Arc and Incan- 
descent Lights of the Finest Quahty at 
Rates Low Enough to induce the Lib- 
eral Patronage that its Large outlay 
deserves. 


1 



LIGHT WITHOUT HEAT OR SMOKE. 



liH*— ^«- MOST POPULAR STORE IN VICKSBURC. * < »-^' 




it 



THE FAIR. 



J> House Furnishines, China, Cut Glass, Lamps, STOVKS, Babv Carriages, 
.... BICYCLES, Dolls, Tovs, HOLIDAY GOODS. 

= LOWEST PRICES. Wholesale and Retail. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



147 




John A. Klein, 

Pres't and Treas. 



.Tas. Nicholson, 



H. C. Sheraru, 

\'ice-Pre^'t and Sec. 



gl^erard grocer^ @.. 



INCORPORATED. 

♦ * « 



WHOLESALE AND RETAIL DEALERS IN 

FANCY AND STAPLE 



-^ 



GROCERIES.^ 



206 SOUTH WASHINGTON STREET. 



148 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 




nm(fL 



^0 



Vicksburg 

Livery and 
Feed Stables, 

AND = 

Vicksburg 

Railroad 
Transfer 
Company, 



Stables 



Corner 
Walnut and 
China Streets. 



Elegant Carriages 

For Theatres, 
Weddings and 
Entertainments 
of all Kinds. 

Stables^Open Day and Night 




-B-l'elephone S5.-H- 
SPECIAL FACILITIES FUR HANDLING THEATRICAL COMPANIES. 

The Only Exclusively Nlillinery Store in the City. 

]^iss j^mclia l^azsin^kV. 

Kiiie Nlillioerv. 

^Wcrk oi Every Description Dene in this Liiie.-^ 

Orders By Mail Promptly Attended To. 

STORE: CARROLL HOTEL. 

CLAY STREET. 

Hllicksbuvi], _ - _ Mississippi. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



149 



LA^3<:K lIOL«i: SU]SI]MER RESORT. 




Situated Near Gate of National Cemetery on Lake Centennial. 
C. DORNBUSCH, Proprietor. 

Wm. Stanton, 
.... architect. 

Plans furnished for Pnvaie and Public buildings. 
Estimates given for all kinds of Structures, Masonry, 
etc. Designer of B. B. Literary Club House, Hotel 
Piazza, Temple Anshe Chesed, Hall of St. Francis 
Xavier's Academy, etc. Thirty years' experience. 
Correspondence Solicited. 209:"4 South Washing- 
ton Street. 



150 PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 

C.O.WILLIS. E M. MIOORE 



Willis, Moore & Co. 




1^ AND -tS/^ 



Commission - Merchants, 



Vicksburg, Mississippi. 











OFFICE: 

OYER COTTON EXCHANGE. 








^H 


^I 


DVA^NCJilS M^DE I^^ C^^ 


At thi 


Or Supplies 


) TO US. 


: Lowest Market Rates on Cotton Consignei 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



151 



/\rmour Packing Qo., 

■"-^■^aDEALERS IN CHOICE«=->-* 

PORK, SAUSAGES, MUTTON, CANNED GOODS, 

Sugar Cured 

Salt -Smoked 

Meats and Butterine » ® m w mm 

MESS PORK, BEEF, ETC. 




Office, Warehouse and 
Refrigerators : 



COHNER VETO AID MULBEHRY Streets, 

Vicksburg, Miss. 



Phone 256. 



L. R. SHIRK, 

' Uocal Manager. 



152 PICTURESQUE VKKSRURO. 

H. G. sussELL, Jr. RUSSELL & MARKHAM, ''■ ^'- ■''■^f^-^--* "■ 



< 



LIVERPOOL i LONDON A- GLOBK LNSURANCE CO. 

SCOTTISH UNION ,t NATIONAL INSLRANCH CO 
CALEDONIAN INSURANCE CO. 

MECHANICS ,V TRADERS INSUIt.WCK CO W 

RK INSLK.A.N'CE CO , OK PHlLADEirillA. I ^^^ 

TRAVELERS ACCIDENT IVSUR.WCE CO., of IlAKTKiKr K 



AMERICAN KI 



VICKSBUKG. MISS. 



RANDOLPH HICK. lllil.ION' DICKSON. 

BUCK, DICKSON 8c CO., 

^ GENERAL X INSURANCE, l> 

FIRE, MARINE, ACCIDENT, TORNADO AND LIFE. 
107* AVasliingtoii St.. - - - Vicksbiirii;, INIiss. 

LOAN, INSURANCE and REAL ESTATE AGENCY. 

c-*--.-^ LOANS NEGOTIATED. ^^^-^ v-- 
Insurance written in the leading companies ot the world. 

Real Estate boug-ht and sold on reasonable commissions. 

o 

Personal attention given to the above lines and correspondence solicited. 

VICKSBUHG. MISS 

^(^eneral i Insurance i AS^tit4 

REPRESENTS PHOENIX OF HARTt^ORD, 
REPRESENTS HANOVER FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY OF NEW YORK. 

Give him a call. Personal and prompt attention given to all business 

intrusted him 

-^-m^^^. MOORE & PRESTON, ^^^^l^^ii^FHT" 

FIRE, LIFE AND ACCIDENT INSURANCE, 

116': WASHINGTON STREET, VIOKSBURC, MISS. 
RESIDENT AGENTS FOR ^ — ► 

AETNA FIRE INS''RANCE COMP.XNV, of Hartford, Conn. „ „ 

HARTFORD FIRE INSURANCE CO.\lP.\NV, of Hartford, Conn. [" ^) 

NORWICH UNION INSUR.ANCE SOCIETY, of England. w^---r-^^ 

_ QUEEN' INSUR.\NCE COMPANY, of America. ^^ ^^^ 

«; PHOENLX INSUR.\NCE tOMPANY", of H.irtford, Conn. fJT T> 

.^M'^ NEW YORK UNDERWRITERS AGENCY', New Y'ork. ^ '-' 

•!-• ^ .MANCHESIEK FIRE INS. CO.. ENGLAND. 

^ EQUITABLE LIFE ASSURANCE SOCIETY', of New Y'ork. 

^ FIDELITY' AND CASUALTY' ACCIDENT INSURANCE CO.MPANY, o£ New York. 




-^LARGEST MEAT DEALER IN THE SOUTH,^ 

Steamboat and City Trade a Specialty, 



RETAIL STORES: 

The Fulton Market, 213 S. Washington St. (Office and Headquarters) Telephone No 237. 
The Palace Market, 201 N, Washington St , Telephone No. 220. 




ALSO AT 204 Monroe St., Telephone No 97. 
229 Jackson Road. 
620 Levee Street. 
401 N. Washington St. 
Stalls No. 1, 3 and 5, Market House. 

If You Believe in supporting Home Industry, 
JTJST? 



-DUL^l 



That's all-! 



PROMPT DELIVERY TO ALL PARTS 
OF CITY DAY OR NIGHT. 



Residence 



Telephone No. 102. 



154 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 






Ox exceptionally favorable terms, 80.000 ACRES of Timber Land, in one tract 
in Jlississippi, containing large yields of Cyjiress. Gum, Ash, White Oak, 
Red Oak, Hickory and other valuable woods These lands cannot lie 
excelled for all and any kind of earthly production when brought into 
proper tillajrc and cultivation. 

THESE LANDS ARE SITUATED IN THE DELTA BETWEEN MEMPHIS AND VICKSBURC. IN ISSAQUENA AND 
WASHINGTON COUNTIES. 



FOR INFORMATION apply to 



S. L. FINLEY, 

Continental Building, 

MEMPHIS, TENN. 



" -^JUDGE IRA E. DAYIS,^ 

REAL ESTATE AGENT. 

General Intelligence Office, Cotton Brokerage •• *-*s^ 

>S> 1 ■ . < )»» and General Collecting. 

EsiEfiEENCEs—Capital State Bank, Jackson, Miss. ; First National Bank 
and Delta Trust & Banking Co., Vicksburg. IMiss. 

^oltozx. 3a:ix3.<as Co., 3\Xiss. 

SPECIAL AGENT FOR S.\LE OF LOTS IN BINGHAMTOX, (MEMPHIS) TENN. 
AGENT IMMIGKATION SOCIKITY. 

J#" Also other Improved Lands, Hinds Counlv, Miss., for Sale Cheap. 



4>W. H. Bi^uscr.^ 


VINCENT UYECCHIA, 




DEALER IN 


Tin, Copper 


LIQXJOI^S, 


and Sheet Iron 


staple fc^^ Fancy Groceries, 


Worker, 


GICARS AND TOBACCO, 


PLUMBING AND GAS-FITTING, 


PADUCAH CLUB WHIIKY A SPECIALTY. 




8IO SOUTH WASHINGTON ST. 


Machinery 




Supplies, Pipes 
and Fittings. 


IVIrs. John Tironi, 




DEALER IN 


♦^PLANTATION WORK A SPECIALTY.^ 


OYSTERS, FISH, 


Mulberry Street, 
Telephone 264, 


FRUIT, VEGETABLES, ETC, 




Cigars and Tobacco. 


VICKSBURC, - MISSISSIPPI. 


I06 EAST CROVE ST. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 15.5 

^HOUSE, SIGN AND ORNAMENTAL^ 
Decorative Paper Hanging, Glazing and Calsomining, 

No. 311 South St., Near Washington. 

J. D. Bkazier, Manager. Telephone 210. ,? KjNob. 

WUTUMM EtUMMMm ^^M^^NW^ 

CONTRACTORS AND BUILDERS, 

* % \ AND DEALERS IN H » » 

Sash, Doors, Blinds, Mouldings, Shingles, Laths, Rough and Dressed Lumber and 

House Furnishings. 

Dimeoiloii lod Car Loti a Specialty. LgmberTard: Corner Grore ami Malberr; Streets. 

JobirL W. Beck, 

BUILDER, CONTRACTOR AND 

bi^ick:-:m:-a.k:ei?. i 

WARRENTON ROAD. 




FRANK 1. FISHER, 

EMBALMER 



— AND — 
ViclCSbur£ Miss Funeral Parlors and Office, 107 Grove St., Opp. Court House. 



ofloSc^t Sp^oti{c^ 



Tt/L ISJ FL G H A. T>^ T ^.A. 

COR. WASHINGTON STREET AND SPROULE AVENUE. 

Conducts a Steam Bakery— the Largest in the State. Mr. Sproule has erected Two Fine 

Model Ovens, the first introduced in the South. He supplies the surrounding 

Country within a radius of one hundred miles of Vieksburg. 



156 



r^ICTURESQUE VICKSBURO. 



'a 



& 



-x>Ej^x-E:xa iiT- 



r. 



SALOON AND RESTAURANT WITH FURNISHED ROOMS. 



117 S. Washington Street, 



W^ 



-VICirSBURa, - - MISS. 



J.B.SMITH 



Plumber, 
Cas- Fitter 
and Machinist. 

COUNTRY WORK A SPECIALTY. 
413 W. Clay Street. 



205 E. MAIN ST. 

FRED. C. TALEN, Teacher. 

Terms Per Montli. 

Two Lessons a \veek,ol"ouehoureacIi,SS.OO. 
Two Lessons a week of thirty minutes 

eacli, S.5.00. 
Classes of Four Pupils, two lessons a 

week, S:lOO. 
All ailditional Charge will be made for 

I'rivate I>essons outside. 

YICKSBURG. MISS. 

No I)etluclio[i Minlu- for Tcmpor;irv Ahscnce. 



F. MELSHEIMER, 

DEALER IN 

<lGROCERIES J^NJJ F»RODi:"CE.t> 

BAKERY AND CONFECTIONERY. 
No. 301 Washington Street. VicUsburg, Miss- 

-^W. H. JEFFERSON,^ 

ertaker-^Embalmer 

108 Grove Street. 

Vicksburg, - - - Mississippi. 




PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG 



157 



Plumbing, Gas Fitting, Tin, Copper and Sheet Iron Worker, 

PUNIPS, PIPES AND POINTS, 

Corrugated and Iron Roofing. Stove Pipes. Shops: 306 N. Washington St. 
THE 

^RROLL SHAVING PARLORS. 



The Finest 

in the South 



-» ]^ot«- ands- eoId«- Baths. «- 

UNDER CARROLL HOTEL. 



'^?m\ Laundry Go.,-^ 

(INXORPORATED. 1 

Try our New Process. 
Long Life to 
Collars and Cuffs. 

NO GLOSS. 

Office and Works : 
306 China Street. 

Vick.sbi.irp:, ^M^iss. 




Gilbert's 



Parlor 

Shoe 

Store. 

DEALER IN 

Artistic 
Footwear. 



ESTABLISHED 1864 

•<117 NORTH WASHINGTON STREET, I> 
Vicksburg, Miss. 




— \s Dealer in Fine Kentucky Whisky, Wines, Cigars and Tobacco, j^- 

OPPOSITE YAZOO & MISSISSIPPI VALLEY PASSENGER DEPOT. 



158 



f^icrruKSQUK vicksburg. 



JRZOO I^IVER gfE^JVIE^S, 

THE Yazoo and Tallahatchie Transportation Co., successors to the Parisot Line, 
comiiionly known as tlie P. Line, owns the largest fleet of steamers^ having . 
Mcksliuri; lor a home port, bein<; tlie Blanks Corxwell, HiBEKxiA, Des Aki , 
Birdie Bailev. John F. Allen, Fifteen, Maggie and Yazoxia, of wliicli 
t-everal are employed in short trades in the Yazoo and its tritjutariet^. While water per- 
mitting, the comiiany runs a steamer semi-weekly Ijetween Vickslnirg and Belzoni and 
another between Vicksburg and Sharkey. The company's vessels connect with all rail- 
roads in this section and with the Anchor Line and New Orleans and Vicksburg steamers 
for points up and down the Mississippi river. They are commanded by the most expert 
navigators obtainable ; are well equipped and besides handling large quantities of freight 
afford superior accommodations for travelers. A trip on one of the steamers of this excel- 
lent line offers the visitor an opportunity for seeing some of tlie finest country in the 
Southern States, a very little of which is seen by travelers along the railroad. The Yazoo 
and Tallahatchie rivers, comprising the river route from Vicksburg to Sharkey, about 190 
miles, are bordered on each side liy fine and well improved plantations, though much 
excellent land is still unimproved, second in point of fertility to none in the world. There 
is much besides to interest one taking such a trip, which may be made at very small ex- 
pense. Those who have made it and who have availed themselves of the lines of trans- 
portation by land, can alone be truly said to have seen the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta. The 
freight business of the line comprises the handling of cotton and seed in immense quanti- 
ties, besides a large business in shipments to the towns and jdantatidM?^ along the Yazoo 
and its tributaries. The otticers of the line are F. M. .\iidrews, i)resident ; ti. C. Meisson- 
iiier (also viee-i>resid('nt of the St. Louis and New Orleans .\iich()r Line), vice-president 
and general manager ; .L J. Hays, general freight and jlassenger agf nt ; ('. M. Kain, super- 
intendent ; ]). Mayer, treasurer; and D. B. Kundle, secretary, who are among the best 
known and leailing business and river men of this section. The completion of the Yazoo 
river canal will immensely increase Vicksburg's commerce with the valley of the Yazoo 
and with it the value of this line of steamers and the extent of its operations. 



Edw. S. Butts. 

President. 



F. M. Haruixg, 

Vice-President. 



.\. ('. Lee, Sccretarv. 




CAPITAL STOCK, SI 00,000.00. 
Orjranized 1885. 
Losses Paid to Policy 

Holders, $350,000 00. 



Joseph Podesta, 

4IO CRAWFORD STREET, 
VICKSBURG, MISS. 




Wholesale and Retail Dealer in 

FINE FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC 

Wines, Liquors, 

CIGARS AND TOBACCO. 

Hermitage and Old Crow Whiskies. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



lo9 




PIAZZA HOIEL 

^SHAVINC^ 

-^ PARLORS.^ 

Everything First-Class. 



WM. REUTER. 

Lessee. 



J. G. TICHEITOR, 
Carriage Manufacturer and Repairer, 



GrHP<nm.A.ij] 



-A-a-ieicTTi-.'x-criB.if^i. 



Txro^iz ! 



304- NORTH WASHINGTON STREET 

Is now prepared to execute all orders for work in his line witli neatness and promptness. 

Carriage Painting a Specialty. 













''^ -^fSSi^M,l/3^, 



s l'.:irvels ..f Wli 

J. C. Moore's Jug House, Vichburg, Miss, 



1 Lived 108 Year.«, Drank ,s l'.:iriels (.f Whisky. nc\er g(jt sick until I dicl, and lionght my 
liquors at 



160 PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 

•^W. H. MILLER GROSERY (50.,-^ 



Office and Store 104 Belmont Street. 
Warehouse 224 Mulberry Street. 



LWholesale and Retail Dealers in: 




groceries andJPnocluce, fTruits and V^S^tables. 

^FANCY GROCERIES A SPECIALTY.^ 

G00D.S Delivekei) to anv Part ok Citv Free. Telephone No. 11. 

-sVlgKSBURE WATER SUPPLY fiOMPANY.^ 



te 
; non 
works 
ipleted in 1S89 and havi> been in successful ope 
fording an immense volume of water and undersuch pressure that fire engines are dispensed 
with, exeept in portions of the city to which its mains have not yet been extended, and 
are merely held in reserve by the municipality, to meet a contingency which is extremely un- 
likely to occurunder the Company's able management and with itssuperli plant. The source 
of supply is the current of the Jlississippi river, which is drawn up at a point about two 
miles sohth of the city, where the Company's pump-house and settling-basins or reservoirs 
are situated. Theselatter are of substantial brick masonry construction andof a capacity great 
enough to meet the demands of a city thrice the size of Vicksliurg. The machinery is corres- 
pondingly powerful and of the best type, and the fifteen milesof mains Vjy which the water is 
conveyed to and ilistributed through the city are of unusual strength, proportionate to the 
pressure they must enilure. A stand-pipe 140 feet in height, on the summit of one of the 
loftiest hills in the city, ^-egnlates the pressure of the water, which is sutiicient to throw a 
stream on the highest buildings, or if necessary, two from the same hydrant. The water 
is free from organic matter and its constant use l)y thousands of healthful people is the 
best guarantee ofits wholesomeness for drinking jiurposes. The cotton compresses and 
the largest oil mill in the city are jirotected against fire by means of hydrants supplied 
by this system. 

The works wei'e built under a contract with the c'ity, which it may be said has been 
strictly complied with, in spirit and in letter, at a cost of S2.i0,000.00, the capital being fur- 
nisheci by New York capitalists, its present owners. (Iwing to the topography of the city, 
the execution of the plans was atten<led by consi<lerable dillicnlties, all of which were hap- 
pily surmount<'<l. The ('om|iany's income is derived from private consumers and from 
llie rental by the municipality for fire jjrotection of 1 Hi fire-plugs at an annual cost of S7,300. 
Thoroughly reliable in every emergency, the Company's relations with the City and its 
people, though of the most intimate character, have been distinguished liy a perfection of 
service rendered and a total absence of friction, which is highly creditable to the manage- 
ment. This at present, as for four years past, is in the hands of the able ijuperintendent, 
Mr. C. R. McFarland, whose ability as an engineer is only equalled by his qualifications as 
an administrator of the responsible trust reposed in him by his principals. 



DIRECTORY, 



ACADEMY OF MUSIC. 

F. G. TALEN, 205 E. Main St. 

ARCHITECTS. 

WILLIAM STANTON, 

203| S. Washington St. 

ATTORNEYS AT LAW. 

McLAURIN & McLAURIN, 

Bonelli Bldg. Cor. Crawford & Wash- 
ington Sts. 

T. G. BIRCHETT, Jr., 

1161 s. Washington St. 
Over Delta Trust & Banking Co. 

BOOTH A- ANDERSON. 

101| N. Washington St. 

SHELTON & BRUNINI, 

Over Merchants National Bank. 

T. DABNEY MILLER, 

Over Delta Trust & Banking Co. 

COLLIER & MOUNGER, 

12-2| S. Washington St. 

JOHN N. BUSH, 

122i S. Washington St. 

MAGRUDER & BRYSON, 

122| S. Washington St. 

W. J. VOLLER, 

Bonelli Building. 

HENRY & SCUDDER, 

Bonelli Building. 

T. R. POSTER, 

106| S. Washington St. 
DABNEY & McCABe' 

102| S. Washington St. 

PEGRAM & BANKS, 

lOU S. Washington St. 
12 



W. E. MOLLISON, 

409 W. Crawford St. 
ROBBINS ct PITTMAN, 

Quin Building. 
A. G. PAXTON, 

JOU N. Washington St. 

BAKERIES. 

ROBT. SPROULE, 

Cor. Sproule Ave. & Washington St. 

JOHN G. KATZEN MEYER, 

Cor. Main it Monroe Sts. 

BANKS. 

FIRST NATIONAL BANK, 

316 W. Clay St. 

MERCHANTS NATIONAL BANK, 

104 S. Washington St. 

VICKSBURG BANK, 

102 S. Washington St. 
DELTA TRUST & BANKING CO., 

116 S. Washington St. 
PEOPLE'S SAVINGS BANK, 

104 S. Washington St. 

BARBER SHOPS. 

JOHN J. WEIMAR, 

Carroll Hotel. 

PIAZZA SHAVING PARLORS, 

Piazza Hotel. 
N. A. ANDERSON, 

303 N. Washington St. 

BLACKSMITHS. 

J. G. TICHENOR, 

304 N. Washington St. 
J. B. RYAN, 

N. Walnut St. 



162 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



• BOARDING HOUSES. 

TROWBRIDGE HOUSE, 

Corner Grove and Walnut Sts. 

CAMPBELL HOUSE, 

Cor. Veto it Washington Sts. 

BOAKD OF TRADE. 

VICKSBURG BOARD OF TRADE, 
Lons Hoffman, President, 

106^ S. Washington St. 

BOILER MAKERS. 

P. J. FOLEY, 

206 N. Mulberry St. 

BONNET FACTORY. 

BONNET FACTORY, 

211 N. Washington St. 

BOOT AND SHOE STORES. 

THE PARLOR SHOE STORE, 

117 N. Washington St. 



LEWIS BROS., 
JOHN WALSH 
V. ROMANO, 
A. LEVY, 



109 N. Washington St. 
109 S. Washington St. 
320 S. Washington St. 
321 North Washington St. 

BOOT AND SHOE MAKERS. 

T. M. BROADWATERS, 

104| N. Washington St. 

Brick Manufiicturers and Dealers. 

J. D. TANNER, 



J. W. BECK, 



South Side Bowmar Ave. 



Warrenton Road. 



KENNEDY &COXAGHAN, (Dealers.) 

Cor. South Madison & Mulberry Sta. 



BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS. 

VICKSBURG BUILDING AND LOAN 
ASSOCIATION, 

106| S. Washington St. 

CITIZENS BUILDING AND LOAN AS- 
SOCIATION, 

101| N. Washington St. 

MUTUAL BUILDING AND LOAN ASSO- 
CIATION, 

122i S. Washington St. 

BUTCHERS AND MEAT SHOPS. 

A. A. EHRMAN, FULTON MARKET, 

213 S. Washington St. 

PALACE MARKET, 

401 N. Washington St.; 204 Monroe 
St. ; 229 Jackson Road ; 620 Levee St. ; 
Stalls 1, 3 and 5 Market House. 

PARLOR MARKET, 

101 S. Washington St. 

P. SPEYERER, 

903 S. Washington St. 

ED. JANUARY, 

901 S. Washington St. 

CANDY MANUFACTURERS. 

BIEDENHARN CANDY CO., 

218 N. Washington St. 

CHAS. K.THEOBALD, 

408 S. Washington St. 

Carriage aud Wagon Manufacturers 

and Repairers. 

J. G. TICHENOR, 

304 N. Washington St. 

J. B. RYAN, 

North Walnut Street. 

CEMENT PAYING. 

P. PARENT, 

At W. O. Worrell & Co., 

301 S. Washington St. 

CIGAR DEALERS. 

JULIUS RUHMAN, 

107 S. Washington St. 

BOB. HENDERSON, 

Piazza Hotel. 

T. P. A. CIGAR STORE, 

Will Sartorius, Prop., 

103 N. Washington St. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



163 



CITIL ENGINEERS AND SURVEYORS. 

A. L. PIERCE, 

Bonelli Building. 

JAMES M. SEARLES, 

Vicksburg. 

W. M. VOSBURG, 

714 S. Washington St. 

CLOTHING DEALERS. 

WARNER & SEARLES CO., 

122 S. Washington St. 

H. NAUEN CO., 

212 N. Washington St. 

COAL AND WOOD DEALERS. 

VIRGINIA & ALABAMA COAL CO., 

South Madison St. 



Coiiiiiiissiou Merchants and Wholesale 
Grain and Provision Dealers. 

P. P. WILLIAMS CO., 

: 108 S. Washington St. 

Warehouse : 326 S. Levee St. 

L. M. NICHOLSON CO., 

107 S. ^\'a.shington St. 
Warehouse: Elevator Building. 

R. L. CROOK A' CO., 

202 S. \Vashington St. 
Warehouse: 336 S. Levee St. 

SMITH BROTHERS, 

109| S. Washington St. 
Warehouse : Pearl & William Sts. 

R. C. WILKERSON. 

Opera House Building. 

COTTON EXCHANGE. 

VICKSBURG COTTON EXCHANGE, 

419 W. Crawford St. 



J. W. SHORT, 



COTTON FACTORS. 

416 W. Jackson St. '^- ^- METZGER, 



PEATROSS, CAMERON & CO., 

306 S. Levee St. 

CANDY AND CONFECTIONERY. 

BIEDENHARN CANDY CO., 

218 N. Washington St. 

LANDAUER CO., 

212 S. Washington St. 

CHAS. K. THEOBALD, 

403 S. Washington St. 

H. A. GABRIEL, 

226 S. Washington St. 

CONTRACTORS AND BUILDERS. 

CURPHEY & MUNDY, 

Cor. Clay & Monroe Sts. 
JOHN W. BECK, 

Warren ton Road. 
C. E. MACKEY, 

709 S. Washington St. 
FUTURE LUMBER CO., 

Cor. Gjove A Mulberr}- St. 
KENNEDY & CONAGHAN. 

Cor. S. Madison and Mulberry Sts. 



202i S. Mulberry St. 

WILLIS, MOORE & CO., 

417| W. Crawford St. 

COTTON BUYERS. 

VICKSBURG COTTON CO., 

208i S. Mulberry St. 

J. J. COWAN, 

42U W. Crawford St. 

COTTON SEED OIL MILLS. 

LEVER BROS. OIL MILL, 

Cor. Levee & Depot Sts. 
REFUGE OIL MILL, 

Office : Delta Trust & Banking Co. 
HILL CITY OIL MILL, 

Office: 212| N. Washington St. 

DENTISTS. 

DR. J. C. SPIVEY, 

Hours S to 12, 2 to 6, 

117A N. Washington St. 
DR. A. G. TILLMAN, 

Hours 8 to 1:30, 3 to 5, 

lOli N. Washington St. 
DR. T. 0. PAYNE, 

Hours 9 am to 6 p.m., 

108h S. Washington St. 



164 



PICTURESQUE VICKSBURG. 



DRUGGISTS. 



KING & CO. 



119 N. Washington St. 



€. C. REYNOLDS DRUG CO., 

210 S. Washington St. 

R. M. BAUM. 

201 S. Washington St. 

A. G. CASSELL, 

101 N. Washington St. 

THOS. G. DABNEY, 

Cherry St. Crossing. 



FURNITURE DEALERS. 

HANISEE & MENGER FURNITURE CO. 
Cor. Grove & Washington Sts. 

SIMON STEIN, 
RICE & CO.. 



112 S. Washington St. 



309 West Crawford St. 

GEM'S FURNISHING GOODS. 

HENRY BAZSINSKY', 

110 N. Washington St. 



E. B. BANKS, 



DRY GOODS 

ADOLPH ROSE, 



KUHN & CO., 
G. A. R. STORE, 
HENRY MARKS, 
C. LOWENTHAL, 
MRS. A. MOGUIN 



GENERAL MERCHANDISE. 

822 South Washington St. , k .J. BRUZELIUS, 

401 N. Washington St. 

F. DORNBUSCH, 

309 N. Washington St. 

D. A. BOVE, 

901 S. Washington St. 
VINCENT LAVECCHIA, 

810 S. Washington St. 



312 W. Clay St. 
124 N. Washington St. 
219 N. Washington St. 
118 N. Washington St. 
208 N. Washington St. 
210 N. Washington St 

ELECTRIC LIGHT CO. 

VICKSBURG ELECTRIC LIGHT CO., 

Cherry St. Crossing. 

FISH AND OYSTERS. 

MRS. JOHN TIRONI. 

104 E. Grove St. 

FRUIT DEALERS. 

FRANK BOTTINl, 



805 N. Washington St. 



JOHN PICHETTO, 
H. A. GABRIEL, 



308 S. Washington St. 



326 S. Washington St. 



GROCERIES. 

S. C. RAGAN&CO., 

211 S. Washington St. 

ALLEN & SON. 

224 S. Washington St. 



SOL. FRIED CO., 



206 N. Washington St. 

S. SCHWARZ & CO., 

11-5 S. Washington St. 

SHERARD GROCERY CO., 

206 S. Washington St. 

W. H. MILLER GROCERY CO., 

110 Belmont St. 

BROWN & BEER, 

122 N. Washington St. 

FRANK MELSHIEMER, 



301 N. Washington St. 



107 X Wasliin^ton St. 



D..J. SHLENKER, 

D. WALSH, 

302 S. Washington St. 

FEENEY & CONAGHAN, 

418 S. Mulberry St. 
P. SPEYERER, 

903 S. Washington St. 



PICTURESQUE VICKSHURG. 



165 



HARDWARE 

WRIGHT BROTHERS, 

118 S. Washington St. 

REA & JACKSON, 

113 X. Washington St. 

LEE RICHARDSON & CO., 

114 South Washington St. 

Hay, Grain, Feed Etc.— Wholesale. 

W. 0. WORRELL ^- CO., 

Cor. South (t Washington Sts. 
Warehouse: 320 Levee St. 

HOTELS. 

CARROLL HOTEL, 

Cor. Clay iV: Walnut Sts. 

WASHINGTON HOTEL, 

203 N. Washington St. 

TROWBRIDGE HOUSE, 

Corner Grove and Walnut Sts, 

INSURANCE AGENTS. 

KLEIN & STERNE, 

B. B. L. Building. 

MOORE & PRESTON, 

11(_H S. Washington St. 

RUSSELL & MARKHAM, 

122i S. Washington St. 

J. F. HALPIN, 

106J S. Washington St. 

R. C. WILKERSON, 

Opera House Building. 

MISSISSIPPI HOME INSURANCE CO., 
102A S. Washington St. 

BUCK, DICKSON & CO., 

107i S. Washington St. 



LAUNDRIES. 

PEARL LAUNDRY CO., 

306 W. China St. 

MILLINERY AND MILLINERY GOODS 

MISS AMELIA BAZSINSKY, 

Carroll Hotel. 

MONEY LENDERS. 

N. O. SHARPE, 

202| S. Washington St. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

VICKSBURG COMMERCIAL HERALD, 
411 W. Crawford St. 

VICKSBURG EVENING POST, 

408| W. Crawford St. 

VICKSBURG DEMOCRAT, 

417.V W. Crawford St. 

SOUTHLAND, 

Office: Carroll HoteL 

NEWS DEALERS. 

CLARKE ct CO., 



JEWELERS. 

108 S. Washington St. 

106 S. Washington St. 

Jackson Road. 

102 S. Washington St. 



R. C. JUST, 

HENRY YOSTE 

C. AM BORN, 

BEN GUIDER, 

ROBT. ERNST, 

124 S. Washington St. 

GOTTHELF & VOELLINGER, 

103 N. Washington St. 



BOB. HENDERSON, 
JULIUS RUHMAN, 



120 S. Washington St. 
Piazza Hotel. 



107 S. Washington St. 

PRINTERS. 

VICKSBURG PRINTING & PUBLISH- 

411 W. Crawford St. 



ING CO., 



VICKSBURG NEWSPAPER UNION, 

Cor. Crawford & Mulberry Sts. 

POST PRINTING CO , 

219^8. Washington St. 

PAINTERS, 

DAVID HOLDEN, 

311 W. South St. 

PHOTOGRAPHERS, 

M. T. FREDERICHS, 

1081 S. Washington St. 

F. G. HARWOOD, 

222i North Washington St. 



166 



PICTURESQT^E VICKSBURG. 



PLUMBERS. 

W. H. BRUSER, 



J. B. SMITH, 
C. L. DICKSON, 



S. Mulberry St. 
W. Clay St. 



N. Washington St. 

PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS. 

DR. -J. WALDAUER, 

Hours, 8 to 12 m. and 6 p.m., 

117|N. Washington St. 

DR. R. A. QUIN, 

210i S. Washington St. 

DR. A. 0. HARDENSTEIN. 

Hours, 9:3011 a.m.. 4-5 p.m., 

303 West Clay St. 

DR. H. B. WILSON, 

Hours, 12 m , 4 p.m., 

203 W. Crawford St. 

DR. G. S. LIMERICK, 

Hours, 9 a.m., 2 and 6 p.m. 

210+ S. Washington St. 

DR. E. C. HUNT, 

Hours, 8 9 a.m., 4-5 p.m., 

lOoi N. Washington St. 

DR. C. HENRI WOODE, 

Hours, 8:30-11 am. 1 3-5-7 p.m. 

im N.Washington St. 

DR. T. G. BIRCHETT, 

206 E. South St. 

RESTAURANTS. 

DAVE H. HERMAN. 

103 S. Washington St. 

W. G. BIEDENHARN, 

115 N. Washington St. 

J. W. HAYES, 

117 S. Washington St_ 

LANDAUERCO., 

212 S. Washington St. 

REAL ESTATE AGENCIES. 

VICKSBURG REAL ESTATE AGENCY, 

lOU N. Washington St. 

J. C. BOWMAR, 

Over Merchants National Bank. 

J. F. HALPIN, 

106| S. Washington St. 



SALOONS. 

L. HIBOU & CO., 

116 N. Washington St. 

WESLEY CRAYTON, 

317 S. Washington St. 
DAVID H. HERMAN, 

103 S. Washington St. 
J. W. HAYES, 

117 S. Washington St. 
VINCENT LAVECCHIA, 

810 S. Washington St. 

SCHOOLS. 

ST. FRANCIS XAVIER, 

Cor. Crawford & Adams Sts. 

ST. ALOYSIUS, 

Cor. 1st. North it Grove Sts. 

SASH, DOOR AND BLINDS. 

CURPHEY & MUNDY, 

Cor. Clay and Monroe Sts. 

S. SPENGLER SASH FACTORY. 

North Washington St. 

SAW MILLS. 

CURPHEY-WOOLEN LUMBER CO., 

National Cemetery Road. 
S. SPENGLER, 

National Cemetery Road. 

SECOND-HAND FURNITURE. 

M. GOMES, 

306 S. Washington St. 

STABLE LIVERY. 

BAZSINSKY BROS, 

Cor. China and Walnut Sts. 

TIN AND SHEET-IRON WORKERS. 

GEO. WAHL. 

Cor. Clay and Mulberry Sts. 

W. H. BRUSER, 

Mulberry St. 
J. B. SMITH, 

West Clay St. 



PICTUUEriQUE VICKSBUIIG. 



167 



TRANSPORTATION COMPANIES. 

ST. LOUIS & NEW ORLEANS ANCHOR 
LINE, 

Office and Elevator, Front St. 

VICKSBURG & GREENVILLE PACKET 
COMPANY, 

327 Levee St. 

YAZOO & TALLAHATCHIE TRANS- 
PORTATION COMPANY, 

4 West Ciawford St 

United States Commissioner. 

B. Q BRANCH, 

303 North Washington St 

UNDERTAKERS. 

F. J. FISHER, 



W. H. .JEFFERSON, 



107 West Grove St. 



108 East Grove St. 



WHOLESALE MEAT DEALERS. 

A. A. EHRMAN, 

213 South Washington St. 

ARMOUR PACKING CO., 

C'or Veto and Mulberry Sts. 

WHOLESALE LIQUOR DEALERS. 

JOSEPH PODESTA, 

420 West Crawford St. 

WATCH MAKERS, 

G. W. YOSTE, 

120 South W^-ishington St. 

WATER WORKS. 

VICKSBURG WATER SUPPLY CO., 
Office, 309^ Crawford St ; 

Pump House, South Vicksburg. 




INDEX TD ILLUSTRATIONS, 



Taue 

Steamer Ruth, Mulholland Line i! 

Looking Nortli from Court House 10 

Looking South from Court House 11 

Vicksbnrg in "59 

The Court House Looking West 15 

The Bodley Monument 16 

Cotton Exchange 18 

St. Paul's Church 19 

View from the Islanil 20 

Anchor Line Loading 21 

Bayou Bridge 22 

From New School Looking South 23 

Christ Church 24 

Vicksburg Postoffice 25 

The Louisiana Monument 26 

Holy Trinity Church 27 

U. 8. Engineer Office 30 

A View of a Clearing 31 

An Anxious Moment 33 

Improvement of Mouth of Yazoo River. .34 

Drilling for a Blast 35 

The Blast— and After 35 

A Cotton Picking Scene in the Delta.... 41 
1 — Home ol a Negro Planter. 2- Chic - 

asaw Bayou 43 

Yazoo River Bridge 47 

Basin of Yazoo River 49 

A Page of Snapshots 51 

A Planter's Home 52 

Coming Into Town for Supplies 55 

Starting to Church 57 

An Oak Tree on the Road to Redwood... 65 
Roustabouts UnloadingSteamer at Lake 

Providence Landing 06 

Early Morning in a Delta Village 67 

Four O'clock Tea on the ilulholland 

Line y 68 

Refuge Landing 69 

A Colored Sport 72 

Ruins of an Old Church on Lake Wash- 
ington 73 

A Kitchen Study 74 

A Lower Deck Character 76 

Taking Coal at (Jreenville 77 

Anchor Line Steamer City of Cairo 78 

Sunnyside Landing , 79 

River Pencillings 80 

View of Saloon Anchor Line Steamer... 81 

Thirsty Weather 82 

Steamer Annie Laurie S3 

A View of Washington Street 85 

The Citv Government 86 

The Board of Trade 88 

Transporting Cotton bv Steamer 89 

The Carroll, from Clay'street 91 

Office, Rotunda and Dining-Room of 

The Carroll 92 

Captain E. C. Carroll 93 

Residence of Captain E. C. Carroll 94 

South Vick.sburg Public School Build'g 94 



Page 

Residence of Dr. S. D. Robbins 95 

St. Aloysius College 96 

View of St Francis Xavier Academy... 97 

Cherry Street "..... 99 

Confederate Monument 100 

National Cemetery 101 

Residence of General E. S. Butts 102 

Residence of Mrs. Bettie B. Willis 102 

B. B. Literary Club 105 

Staircase and Dining-Room of B. B. 

Literarv Club 106 

Hall of B. B. Literary Club 107 

:\Ir. J. J. Mulligan...! 108 

Mr. M. .1. JIulvihill 108 

Mr. B. W. Griffith 109 

Residence of Mr. A. Warner 110 

Residence of !Mrs. Lee Kichardsou 110 

Dr. H. B. Wilson. H. .1. Trowbridge, 

Abe Kierskv, Capt. John Groome, 

R. V. Booth', Prof. C. P. Kemper Ill 

Residence of Dr. R. A Quin 112 

Residence of Mr. John Curphey 112 

Commercial Herald Building 113 

Residence of Mr. John A. Klein 114 

Residence of Mr. John G. Cashman 114 

Residence of Maj. T. G. Dabney 117 

Sketches Around Vicksburg 118 

The Refuge Oil Mill 119 

The VicksliurgOil Mill 120 

Main Street Public School 121 

View of Curphey- Woolen LumVier Mill. 123 
Exterior and Interior of Curphev & 

Mundy's Mill ". 123 

C. E. Mackey's "Workshop 125 

John M. Cameron 126 

The Tug Joe Seay 127 

W. O. Worrell A Co.'s Warehouse 128 

Merchants National Bank 129 

Vicksburg Bank 131 

Delta Trust l*c Banking Co.'s Building... 132 

Hoffman Block 135 

Interior of .'^chwarz & Co 136 

Interior of Allen it Co 137 

Sol Fried \- Co 139 

Biedenharn Candv Manufacturing Co. ..141 

P. P. Williams Co'.'s Warehouse 142 

R. L. Crook A Co.'s Warehouse 143 

Exterior of Rice I'c Co 144 

Exterior Hanisee c*t Menger Furniture 

Company 145 

Robert Ernst' Jewelrv Store 145 

"The Fair," Rea it Jackson 146 

Slierard Grocery Co.'s Store 147 

Lake House Summer Resort 149 

Armour Packing Co. Warehouse 151 

A. A. Ehrman's Meat Market 153 

M. Fitzgerald's Saloon 157 

Piazza Hotel Shaving Parlors 159 

J. C. Moore's Nigger 159 



I.EE mcIIARDSON, Phes. 



m'GlI KICIIARDSOX, Sec'v & Tkeas 




ESTABLISHED 
1866. 



; IN BUSINESS 29 YEARS ! ' 



INCORPORATED 
1889. 



HARDWARE 



t«" YOUR BUSINESS RESPECTFULLY SOLICITED. "^5*1 

VICKSBURG NEWSPAPER UNION. 

(Brand) of Atlanta Newspaper Union,) 

VICKSBURG, MISS. 



ANY CLASS OF MATTER 

That you want will 
be furnished in the 
READY PRINT SHEETS 
Supplied by the 

Vicksbiirj Newspapor Onion. 

A Specialty of 
Louisiana State Nrws 



AUXILIARY PUBLISHERS. 



Correspondence Invited. 
Samples and Prices on Application. 



ALL SIZES OF PAPERS 

With as many or 
few pages printed 
as you desiie, can 
be furnished by the 

Vicksburg Kcwspaper Uniun. 



A Specialty of 
Mississippi State Naws. 



Jolifl G. Kalzemeyer, 






BAKER 



^ A ND IS 



+GROCERt 

COR. MAIN AND MONROE STS. 

FRESH BREAD ANDCAKES 

OF EVERY DESCRIPTION 
•«i CONSTANT! ,Y ON HAND r^^ 

(iooils Dclivcreii to Anv Part of City. 



VICKSBURG 



aflo[ Market 



Makes 

a Specialty 

of Handling 




^%rfWJ%^* 



Cofi Wasliington and Clay Sis, 



M. F. Hoffman, M^r. 




The 

Queen and 
Crescent Route 



THE ONLY LINE 

THAT 

Is 33 uiiles shortest New Or- 
leans to New York and Wasli- 
in;5ton. 07 miles shortest to 
Birmin>.'liani. 90 miles short- 
est to Cincinnati. 

That runs Solid Vestibuled 
trains, New Orleans to Meri- 
dian, Birmingham, Cliatta- 
noofra and Cincinnati. 

Tluit carries Tlirou^li Sleep- 
ers to Knoxville, Bristol, Wash- 
ington, Philadelphia and New- 
York ; over the shortest route 
and on Quick Schedules. 

Special attention paid to the 
Service between Local Points. 



THE ONLY LINE 

THAT 

Controls a Route, Shreveport 
to Cincinnati, all under one 
name and management. 

That carries you Shreveport 
to Chattanooga, Knoxville, 
Bristol, Wa.shington and New 
York with only one change of 
cars. 

That runs Tlirough Car from 
Shreveport to Binuinghani and 
Chattanooga without cliange. 
This car is attached at Meri- 
dian to Solid Vestibuled Train 
for Chattanooga ami Cincin- 
nati. 

Choice of Routes to and from 
Texas and California, via 
Shreveport or via New Orleans. 



E. n. G.\PvBETT. A. G. P. A.. 206 St. Charles St.. New Orleans, La. 

I. HABDY, General Passenger Agent, New Orleans. la. 

IT IS THE Superior Southern Route. 




,/? 



